A Letter For Nice Things to Say

A memorable surprise of a lifetime

Apr 07, 2025

After spending 24 hours alone, reckoning with myself and my thoughts about myself whilst immersed in nature, I returned to my familiar environment. I layed down for a nap after coordinating a time to go meet up with a friend for dinner. Actually falling asleep wasn't in my brain's plans, so I just layed with the afternoon sun finding itself through our bedroom blinds and warming my skin and eyes. With our youngest son snoozing peacefully and curled up next to me I felt a deep sense of contentment (in the best of ways).

When I awoke my friend was at the house ready to pick me up. I jumped in his mid-sized SUV and we took off for what he called a small adventure. My exact response to him was:

"I'm here for it, I'm just along for the ride."

Our first stop was to a delightful stationary store, Tabula Rasa, a true gem in SLC. His present to me was to let me pick out a stationary set for myself. I picked out some PREMIUM 32 pound 100% Cotton letterhead and corresponding envelopes in a beautiful Ecru.

Next stop was dinner, I told him I just want some nourishing hot soup, Ramen or Pho would do the trick. While driving we immersed ourselves in a deep convo surrounding our explorations of consciousness and the return of magic. Distracted, I missed that we had driven aimlessly back through his and now my neighborhood. Eventually I picked up on the oddity of continuously missing turns whilst also looking at google maps on his navigation screen. Something was up. A surprise.

I immediately knew who was responsible... BRI !!!

In shock and saying to myself "shoot, I should have realized something was up!" I decided to just let that thought go and embrace the reality of my wife's well executed surprisery (made this word up, but I love it and also she’s amazing at surprisery).

As we walk in the door of our neighborhood gathering place, I notice all the familiar vehicles of my friends and loved ones. A smile impossible of being held back emerges on my face. I walk into an intimate gathering of the people I'd most want to be around on a day like today. A room full of joy - my favorite things and people.

A meal was catered in from amazing neighborhood eatery, an Old Fashioned bar was established with some great whiskeys and artisan bitters and accompaniments. The drinks and eats and people were the present. The 90 minutes of laughter and joy throughout dinner was the dessert as we told stories about the times we had all nearly almost died and how they are “funny” now (well, the bread pudding from my favorite restaurants around town was the actual dessert... incredible).

The cherry on top was a stage and microphone and a folder. The folder containing letters to me from the people in the room and mailed in. My wife announces for people to come sit around the stage and microphone and that some people are going to read their letters to me from the stage.

I remember to myself as I sit down directly across from the mic:

"I'm just along for the ride"

The smile, now bigger and holding back immense emotional gratitude, remained on my face after emerging some 2 hours prior. What a treat!

Then I get asked to the stage, to read a letter to myself, crafted by my friend Adam and fellow Severance die-hard fan. Apparently my "innie" was present state me and my "outie" had the thoughtfulness to write me a letter for my birthday as well. Such a good outie, I love that guy.

My outie was spot on, the work is important.

In tears of laughter, I accept the letter and gift with gratitude and head back off stage. My oldest son comes up on stage, he reads me the most classic 11 year old boy letter ever and I love it so much.

Then my youngest is announced to come up, he gleefully obliges. His letter was transcribed during a drive with our neighbor, verbatim. He loves being the center of attention, the stage is comfortable to him and his soul eats up the attention. He hogs the mic repeating the things on the letter a half-dozen times, giggling gleefully in between each choppy phrase. He's the cutest human ever.