Aaron Plaat

Up until my late 20’s, working out was an important part of my life. That changed pretty dramatically when I moved to San Francisco. The city knows how to throw a party. I exchanged dumbbells for beer bottles, protein powders for white powders, and started smoking. As a result, I all but abandoned my previous workout […]

One of my favorite stories is a short poem, called “The little match girl” by Hans Christian Anderson. The story follows a young girl who sells matches to provide money for her family. On a cold evening, she couldn’t find any buyers for her matches; so, she stayed late in the cold to try and […]

With another birthday in my 30’s coming at the end of the month, I’ve been thinking a lot about my life. The reflections haven’t been easy; often, feeling more like a quarter-life crisis than recollection of joys and accomplishments. When I go back to my inner child and ask them what they wanted to accomplish […]

Our family grew up with a very competitive spirit. From board games to arguments, we siblings enjoyed proving ourselves to each other – or proving ourselves better than each other. To this day, I haven’t seen such lively games of Risk  or Monopoly  – often requiring the intervention of our Mom to maintain the peace […]

I once had the pleasure of working with a counselor in Dallas, TX. She was a sweet woman who made sure you had a safe place to be yourself. Connie, one of the people I think is an angel on earth, once told me: “Aaron, you can’t grow without community.” At the time, I wasn’t […]

Note: I started the note about Julia and Josh before this piece – then felt I should complete this piece first. Sorry, kids. There’s a pecking order <3 As the only girl in SLAM, Lydia enjoyed a different life than the boys. I shared a room with Steve and Mark. Lydia, on the other hand, […]

My adult years looked a lot more like a roller coaster than a smooth yacht ride; prone to extreme ups and downs. During my 20’s, I had a hard time finding a place that felt like home. Ohio was too full of memories that I didn’t want to process. So, I left to build a […]

Once upon an average morn An average boy was born for the second time Prone upon the altar there He whispered up the prayer he’d kept hid inside A lot of things changed after Dad passed away. I found myself included in the bucket of young men who faced life without the guidance of a […]

For a king or queen, battles are fought on the battlefield by knights in shining armor; riding gallantly to protect the honor of their crest. In the Plaat family, our battles were fought (and won) around our dining room table. As a homeschooled family, we’d often receive questions from other parents about how our school […]