E12: It's Been a While

Episode 12 of the The Men's Room podcast, hosted by Chad Henderson, titled "E12: It's Been a While" was published on December 9, 2025 and runs 36 minutes.

December 9, 2025 ·36m · The Men's Room

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Summary

In this episode, Keelin and I sit down for some real talk about where life has us right now: my latest heart surgery (including the “space junk” wire my cardiologist left floating around), what it’s like to live with an evolving heart condition, and the emotional whiplash of waiting months for test results and finally hearing, “Your heart function is improving.”From there, we shift into our new season as full-on soccer parents to fourth graders – date nights at the dome, kids doing handstands at practice, and how our perspective on youth sports has changed. Keelin shares what it was like growing up as an elite race walker with a super-serious sports culture, and we unpack the tension between “let them have fun” and “it’s okay to push them a little.”We also get really honest about us. We talk about the hard, heavy stretch our marriage has been in this fall, how easy it is to start hearing criticism in innocent questions, the long late-night conversations that helped us reset, and why even strong relationships still have pain, conflict, and repair work. If you’ve ever thought, “We love each other… so why does this feel so hard sometimes?” this one’s for you.We wrap by sharing how we’re choosing to celebrate 21 years together (hint: Vegas, an 83-year-old travel buddy, and a non-negotiable night at Tao). It’s vulnerable, a little messy, and very us – an episode about medical scares, kids’ sports, long-term love, and what it really looks like to keep choosing each other on purpose.

Episode Description

From there, we shift into our new season as full-on soccer parents to fourth graders – date nights at the dome, kids doing handstands at practice, and how our perspective on youth sports has changed. Keelin shares what it was like growing up as an elite race walker with a super-serious sports culture, and we unpack the tension between “let them have fun” and “it’s okay to push them a little.”

We also get really honest about us. We talk about the hard, heavy stretch our marriage has been in this fall, how easy it is to start hearing criticism in innocent questions, the long late-night conversations that helped us reset, and why even strong relationships still have pain, conflict, and repair work. If you’ve ever thought, “We love each other… so why does this feel so hard sometimes?” this one’s for you.

We wrap by sharing how we’re choosing to celebrate 21 years together (hint: Vegas, an 83-year-old travel buddy, and a non-negotiable night at Tao). It’s vulnerable, a little messy, and very us – an episode about medical scares, kids’ sports, long-term love, and what it really looks like to keep choosing each other on purpose.