It happened so quietly we almost missed it.
One minute we were sitting in our little recording room talking about The Bear.
The next...
The door opened.
In walked two people we hadn't seen in a very long time.
Us.
Twenty years younger.
They looked around the room.
Then at us.
Then back around the room again.
There was a long silence.
Younger Reese
"Wait..."
"You have a pool?"
Reese
"We have a pool."
Younger Reese
"...Seriously?"
Dave
"Seriously."
Younger Reese walked over to the window and just stared outside for a minute.
Then she turned back.
Younger Reese
"So..."
"We're still together?"
Reese smiled before she answered.
Reese
"We're still together."
Younger Reese
"And we still annoy each other?"
Dave laughed.
Dave
"Oh my God..."
"Constantly."
Young Reese nodded.
"Good."
There was something strangely comforting about that answer.
Nobody had become perfect.
Nobody suddenly figured life out.
Nobody stopped getting on each other's nerves.
They just got better at finding their way back.
Younger Dave had been looking around the room, taking it all in.
The books.
The pictures.
The little reminders of a life that hadn't happened yet.
Finally, he looked up.
Younger Dave
"So..."
"Did we screw up the girls?"
The room got quiet.
Dave didn't even hesitate.
Dave
"No."
"They're amazing."
Younger Dave looked down at the floor for a second.
Almost like he was letting himself believe it.
Because back then...
That was one of the things that scared him the most.
Younger Reese wandered into the kitchen.
She opened a cabinet.
Closed it again.
Then looked around the house one more time.
Younger Reese
"So..."
"We really built all this?"
Reese
"We did."
"It didn't always feel like we were building it."
"But we were."
The younger versions looked at each other.
Then back at us.
Younger Dave
"So what's the trick?"
Dave looked at Reese.
Reese looked back.
Neither of us answered right away.
Finally...
Almost at the same time...
Dave & Reese
"We kept talking."
Another long silence.
Younger Dave smiled.
Younger Dave
"I don't think we'd believe you."
Dave
"We know."
The room became quiet again.
Just as suddenly as they'd appeared...
They were gone.
Dave looked over at Reese.
Dave
"So..."
"Wanna go back to the pool?"
Reese laughed.
Reese
"Absolutely."
—
Continue the Conversation
If your younger self walked through the door today...
What would surprise them most?
What would make them proud?
And what advice would they probably ignore?
Click the Send a Voicemail button on the right side of the Manic Joy website and tell us your story. We'd love to hear it, and it might even become part of a future episode.
—
🎙️ From the Podcast
This week's post is inspired by Ep. 160: What The Bear Gets Right About Marriage.
Toward the end of the episode, Dave asked a simple question:
"What would our younger selves think if they walked through the door right now?"
The answer stuck with us long after we stopped recording.
