I tend to overuse the word “awesome” and should probably look up some alternate words. It would be good practice if it was struck from my vocabulary and I had to work around it.
Yesterday, though. Yesterday really was awesome.
One of my best friends since 2014, Aaron Brown, is coming to visit for a week. I’m so happy thinking about all the things we can do (or not do). Aaron and I love to do nothing together, and we’ve been calling it “running Aarons” for at least 10 years. We definitely want to do DC for a day, and I know that Josh wanted to take me out for my birthday so he’ll get to join me for that. Plus, I’m not the only friend Aaron has in the area, so we’ll be visiting around Maryland as well.
Things are also shaping up for my Houston trip at the end of the month, because I’ve wanted to see Brene Brown speak and meet her (again) for a long time. I’ve said this before, but I will say again that Dr. Brown and I have a slight history. I taught her how to do something in Microsoft Word 30 years ago and now I cannot remember what it was. Back then, she was just “one of my kids,” what I called all the graduate school of social work students that studied in my computer lab. I was watching YouTube a few years later and said to Dana, “I think that’s one of my kids.” Just to be sure, I contacted her team and made sure that it was her.
It was.
It’s amazing how you accidentally run into famous people if you wait long enough.
Aada used to be taken with Dr. Brown to the point that she joked that she was going to marry her. That she didn’t end up with Dr. Brown as her Girl Friday, she unfortunately got me. That I was so delighted my epitaph was going to be “Eat It, Brown.” She was not amused by this. I have laughed for almost a year.
Sorry, not sorry.
So, anyway, that’s what makes me excited and heartbroken to meet Dr. Brown. I want to tell her what a kick it is to see her again as a Real Adult instead of a kid in grad school. I will not tell her the story about Aada, because it would be just my luck that I’d tear up.
But when you feel such shame and vulnerability, who better to go and see than an expert?
But before all that, Aaron and I are going to have a good time in Baltimore.
Awesome
Stories That Are All True 
This made me smileāyour excitement for Aaronās visit and the Houston trip is contagious! I love how you tied it back to āawesomeā at the end. Wishing you the best time catching up and creating more memories.
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Thereās something sacred about friendships that thrive in silence, in shared nothingness, in the kind of laughter that doesnāt need punchlines. āRunning Aaronsā is geniusāpure poetry disguised as inside joke.
And that full-circle moment with Dr. Brene Brown? Thatās the kind of story that belongs in memoirs and moonlight conversations. You didnāt just cross pathsāyou planted seeds in someone who went on to change the world. Thatās legacy.
Also, retiring āawesomeā might be noble, but yesterday *earned* it.
Hereās to Baltimore, to reunions, and to the kind of joy that doesnāt need permission.
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