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 […]
Large families tend to carry a certain sense of camaraderie; everybody looks out for the other, or looks out for the mother while the children undertake nefarious deeds between each other. In our family, there was a constant mix between these two. On one hand, my siblings were my best friends, playmates, and competition. On […]
One of my favorite ways to get to know somebody is to ask them about their greatest fear. It’s the perfect question to break the ice after an introduction, or first date. Some people are afraid of spiders – others fear abandonment and being lonely. My biggest fear is a tiny one; needles. Even as […]
A lot of things changed after July 29th. I found myself caught somewhere in the middle of being a boy and a man; not old enough to buy a beer – while feeling too young to navigate the world void of a father. I thought back to all of the memories I had shared with […]
In Iron John: A Book About Men, Robert Bly discusses the wound given to young children by their fathers; a hurt which takes the rest of their lives to resolve, while also creating a window for their soul to enter and define itself. My Dad taught me a lot of lessons leading up to this […]
Every child should be so fortunate to have a favorite memory with their parents – or the people that raised them. The two aren’t always one in the same. With 1,385 divorces happening every 5 hours, or the time of a wedding reception, I’m appreciative my parents fought their way through the difficult times and […]