Season 1 Reflections: Stories That Help Us Feel Seen

As Season 1 of Running Ahrens comes to a close, we wanted to pause and say thank you.

When Sarah and I started this, it was simply a way for us to stay connected in a new season of life. Our kids were growing up. The house felt different. Conversations needed more intention. Sitting down to talk became a way to slow things down and stay close.

We didn’t expect it to grow into something more.

Over the season, something simple kept happening. People told us they felt seen. They felt more aware of what they were carrying. They felt less alone. And that shifted this from something personal into something shared.

Here are a few moments that brought people together.

Episodes You Spent Time With

These conversations weren’t about answers. They were about awareness. About naming real seasons of life and realizing we’re not the only ones living them. Here are this seasons top episodes:

• From Sidelines to Self-Awareness
• Parenting in the Launch Years
• Meet the Ahrens
• Baby of the Family, Boss of the Moment: Ava Takes the Mic
• The Enneagram and Us

Guest Stories That Connected Us

Season 1 also gave us the privilege of listening to others share their lives with honesty and courage.

• Kelly Grief, growth, and learning how to keep going.
• Uncle Deon What it looks like to show up for chosen family.
• Jeff & Ed What it looks like to choose love clearly and honestly.
• The Vande Veldes Building a life together through grit and commitment.
• JJ & Jamey When everything changes and you decide to rebuild anyway.
• The Rowans Quiet strength. Deep love. The kind of story that defies the odds.

Stories of love, loss, friendship, rebuilding, and choosing each other again. Nothing polished. Nothing performative. Just real people telling real stories. And somehow, those stories pulled us closer together.

Stories That Needed the Page

Some moments asked for more space than a conversation allows. Writing gave us that space.

• When Your Child Comes Out and the World Shifts in Front of You When parenting asks more of you than you expected and gives more back than you imagined.
• Both Sides of the Family: How Friendship Becomes More How real friendship is built slowly, through shared life and showing up.
• What Becomes of Us After the Breaking  What it takes to begin again when life doesn’t follow the plan.
• What We’ve Learned From Running Ahrens (So Far) What surprised us when we chose honesty over polish.
• Grateful for the Rowans: A Story of Love, Resilience, and Starting Again  Young love, near loss, and the quiet courage of choosing each other again.

We write to think through, more deeply, what we’ve had the privilege to hear and experience, and to give readers the same space to do that for themselves.

There’s a reason this kind of sharing works. Science tells us our brains are wired for story. When we hear or read a real story, we don’t just take in information. We connect. We recognize ourselves. We make meaning. Story has always been how humans remind each other, “You’re not alone.” That hasn’t changed.

What started as a way for Sarah and me to stay connected has become something even more fun and meaningful. A place where awareness grows. Where people feel seen. Where stories bring us together.

If you listened, read, shared, or quietly sat with a story this season, thank you.
We’re really glad you’re here.

Season 2 is coming, and we can’t wait to keep running together.

Justin and Sarah