Episode 15 - Accepting the Layered Aspects of Each Other with Melissa & Brady Crook

Welcome to week 1 of the Relationship Series on The F.E.E.L Podcast!  This idea came from a few different places, but really rooted in both Megan & Wendy VanStone’s episodes and the emphasis they put on relationships, and not just having them, but prioritizing them and doing them well.

I went back to my team with the idea of a relationship series, and they loved it because it’s right before the holidays when many of us start gathering with family, for better or for worse.  What a great time to discuss relationships & what goes into those looking healthy, worthwhile, & the challenges that can come with them. 

So here we go! We’ll start off by discussing marriage/relationships, kicking it off with my very own partner, best friend, favorite human, soulmate Brady Crook.  We have been together in marriage for over 28 years, and met almost 31 years ago, on February 9, 1991, in the back of a kitchen at a very crowded house party of a mutual friend. We started dating a week later, and knew we loved each other after just a week. We felt connected and known by each other that quickly.  

But don’t be fooled by that introduction into thinking it was all that easy. I grew up Mormon and he grew up Catholic. We had both started the walk away from those worlds, but there would be some other bumps along the path that we would have to navigate.  We had more people betting against our chances of making it when we got married than we had betting in our favor. But we knew something that none of them did.  We loved all the parts of each of us unconditionally and knew we wanted to do our life different than what we came from, better, brighter. 

That commitment to each other enabled us to forge a bond that would give us the foundation we needed to survive and move through challenges that most couples don’t survive. 

I hope you’ll join us this week to hear about our journey, what we’ve learned and are still learning, and how we’ve gotten to the increasingly healthy space we’re in today.