Chapter One: A Place Called Normal

I used to think "normal" was a place.

Not an address.

Not a town on a map.

Just a life I imagined everyone else had somehow figured out.

Maybe you have your own version of it.

Mine changed over the years.

As a kid, normal looked simple.

Long days on the lake.

Wakeboarding until the sun started to disappear behind the mountains.

Snowboarding in the winter.

Playing every sport I could.

Being one of three triplets who were always together.

At the time, it just felt like life.

I didn't know those moments would one day become the memories I'd miss the most.

Back then, I thought normal was something you eventually arrived at.

A place where life settled down.

Where the hard things stopped happening.

Where you finally felt like you could exhale.

I spent years believing I was moving toward that place.

Looking back...

I don't think normal was ever a destination.

I think it was a collection of ordinary days.

Days I barely noticed while I was living them.

Days I thought would always be there.

Those were the days I would spend years wishing I could visit again.

Maybe that's the strange thing about life.

We spend so much time waiting for everything to fall into place...

that we don't realize we're already standing in moments we'll one day long to have back.

Maybe "normal" was never a place at all.

Maybe it was always just today.