That Was Us - Jack's Proposal to Rebecca| "Both Things Can Be True" (512)

Episode Date: May 19, 2026

This week on That Was Us, we’re breaking down This Is Us Season 5, Episode 12: “Both Things Can Be True.” As Kevin and Madison’s wedding approaches, the episode explores commitment, family expectations, and the complicated ways people learn to communicate with the ones they love. From Jack’s proposal plans for Rebecca in the past, to Kevin navigating unresolved tension with Randall in the present, the episode asks what it really means to show up for the people you care about. In this episode, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan chat about: * Asking for a partner’s parents’ blessing and whether that tradition still feels meaningful today * Parenting dynamics and the emotional complexity of stay-at-home parenting * The pressure parents can unknowingly place on their children * Digital de-aging, wigs, and the behind-the-scenes magic * Candy Corn: love or hate? They also break down the episode, including: * Miguel helping Jack rehearse his proposal to Rebecca * Miguel defending Jack to Rebecca’s father and proving just how loyal of a friend he is * Kevin struggling to ask Randall to be his best man after their explosive fight * Nicky and Miguel clashing and feeling “replaced” by Jack’s death * Madison opening up about what kind of wedding she actually wants * Toby struggling with stay-at-home parenting while Kate starts her new job * Beth navigating Tess and Alex’s relationship while trying to support Tess without judgment * Randall attending a transracial adoptee support group And a friendly reminder, you can catch new episodes of That Was Us every Monday, a day early, exclusively on Hulu. Available on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts on Tuesdays like usual! That Was Us is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith. ------------------------- Support Our Sponsors: - With Shipt, it’s never just a delivery order – it’s shopped same day – in the same way you would. Use code "podcast" to get a year of Shipt for only $49 – HALF OFF the regular $99 price – at https://Shipt.com/offer. Terms apply - Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit https://www.article.com/discount/twu and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. ------------------------- 🍋 About the Show: The stars of This Is Us, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan, dive back into the world of the Pearsons, reliving each episode and all the life lessons that came with it. Together, they dig in and dig deep, have the tough conversations, bring in very special and familiar guests, share never-before-heard behind-the-scenes moments, and feature listeners in highly anticipated fan segments. Join your favorite family back in the living room to examine our past, cherish our present, and look to the future with new episodes of That Was Us every Tuesday. ------------------------- Executive Producers: Natalie Holysz and Rob Holysz Creative Producer: Sam Skelton Production Coordinator: Andrew Rowley Video Editor: Todd Hughlett Mix & Master: Jason Richards About Headgum: Headgum is an LA & NY-based podcast network creating premium podcasts with the funniest, most engaging voices in comedy to achieve one goal: Making our audience and ourselves laugh. Listen to our shows at https://www.headgum.com. » SUBSCRIBE to Headgum: https://www.youtube.com/c/HeadGum?sub_confirmation=1 » FOLLOW us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/headgum » FOLLOW us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/headgum/ » FOLLOW us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headgum Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a headgum podcast. On today's episode of That Was Us, we are diving into season five, episode 12. Both things can be true. As Kevin and Madison planned their wedding, doubt about what they both want begins to surface. Kate faces the nerves of a new job. Randall explores his identity and Miguel and Nikki butt heads over the rehearsal dinner. In the past, Jack prepares to propose to Rebecca. What up, y'all?

Hi, friends. Here we are. Here we are, face to face, a couple of silver spoons. Hoping to find. We're two of a kind. Making it go. We're making it grow together. Making it.

We're going to find our way. Grow together. That's it. If you're going to say it, you've got to finish the whole thing. Do we need to talk? An episode of this is us about John Hortez's hair. Bro. His hair be haren.

Be forewarned. But also, that is not a wig. That is his hair. That is that man's hair. All of it. Yeah. I could talk to you for 45 minutes. It's an impressive mom.

Let's do it. That hair. Let's get that guy in here to talk about his hair. Is an emotional assault on my being. Just showing up and showing out and showing off like that. Yeah. I get it. This is, we're talking about Miguel in the past.

Yeah. When it's Miguel in the present day, that is a wig. Oh, that's a wig? It's a, it's, yes. Partial, right? Yeah, they use a little bit of his hair, but it's mostly, like the back, I believe, a little bit underneath, but the top is a wig.

But that's all him in the past. But this blowout. Yeah. In episode 512, can make a man, weep. It can make a man weep. Can make a man question his sexuality. Because this man is too pretty.

You know what seems like Jack can question it is for a second. For a second there, I'm like, these guys are technically engaged? Technically. Because Miguel is bringing the smoke. So we are in the past. Yeah.

As we alluded on the last podcast episode, I am newly postpartum. That's right. So there was no Rebecca in this episode. Yeah. But everybody else was around. Her presence is felt. Presence is felt because in the past,

we are diving into a story of, Jack getting ready to propose to Rebecca. And he is sort of recreating their first date as part of the proposal, which, of course, is... Disaster. It's very Jack-like, though. Yeah. Now, Miguel is helping him with this. He mentions that Rebecca's dad has not called back.

He's left several messages. He's trying to get her blessing, his blessing, sorry, before proposing to her. And Miguel insists that Jack, like, practice... the whole experience with him. Like, you need to know what you're doing before she, you know, this is, your nerves are going to be rattled, like, get down on one knee. Like, I want the whole thing. Let's do it.

Do the dry run. He puts the ring on Miguel's finger. Yeah. And the ring gets stuck. Ring gets stuck. Yeah. First of all, Wertes is so dumb. Like, you can see him sort of, like, his face is like, am I about to be proposed to?

Yeah. He's so cute. comedy is so good. Yeah, it's so cute. He's fully into his Rebecca role. Yeah. And he's being 100% helpful and not helpful at all. No, because at one point in time, like, Jack says he's like, back, and he goes, yes.

And he's like, don't you do it. And you can tell. There's a game happening between the two of him and. Between Milo and John. Yeah. And where this is like, I'm going to make you break. And he's like, don't you do it. Yeah.

Yeah. There's a genuine game afoot. I love it. I love it. There's all sorts of things going on. He has to get the umbrella. It's very charming and cute. He takes the ring, and you can see he gives a little bit of muscle on it at the end.

And then you see he accepts and just trying to take it off and it's not coming off. First of all, everybody, like men's hands and women's hands. Yeah. If it fits on your ring finger, it's not fitting on mine. That's too big for men. It's falling off. But it was on his pinky. I thought I would put in his ring.

It was on his pinky. It was on his pinky. It was on his pinky for sure. But still. But still. Rachel's wedding ring wouldn't make it past the first knuckle of my pinky. Yeah. That's right.

It would be a little crown for the tip of my pinky. Her fingers are so tiny. Oh my gosh. Did your, did Taylor ask your dad for your hand of marriage? Yeah. What did your dad say about it? Like was touched by it? He was touched.

I had been betrothed before, but that had that person did. That person did not have my father. So I think my dad was very touched. Okay. That it was done in the traditional way. My dad appreciates that. But I believe he also is super awkward. Was like, oh gosh, you didn't have to ask for my permission, you know, as Taylor recounted it to me.

But yes. And I remember you asked, you asked Rachel and I did. I did. And I felt like it was the right thing to do then. I feel like I'd want someone to ask me. Yeah. But then when I hear about the process. of asking for a blessing, there's part of me that goes,

that feels old. Like, that feels like when we used to buy women. Yeah, but what about the idea of somebody saying, like, hey, just want to give you a heads up, this is what I'm planning on doing. Totally. I love your daughter. And like I said, like I did it,

and I think that was the right thing to do. And if someone was going to ask If I had to marry them, I would want them to do it. Yeah. But when I hear about the concept, I know it's strange. I conflicted to where it's like, yeah. Well, so this is interesting because I knew my,

I didn't really have a relationship with my father-in-law, or I had a minimal one. My wife's mom was like sort of the stronger presence, but you're supposed to ask the dude or what have you. Yeah. And I think he would have been fine, but he and Ryan, their relationship got closer over time. So I didn't ask, well, because I kind of felt like her mom,

If I asked her mom, she would just say no. And I was like, well, I don't want to do that part. Which is what I was thinking about Jack. I was like, this is kind of honorable that he's still going through this, even though he knows that he's not the biggest fan, or his dad is not the biggest fan of him, right? But so similar to you, I have two boys, so I don't have a young lady to give away or whatnot,

but I think I'm sort of, I'm very, I'm almost saying I'm very modern. That sounds dumb. But, like, when they call me by my first name, I don't trip. Like, you know, if they say Mr. Sterling, I'm going, that's fine. There's revolutions happen. You know what I'm saying? Whereas when we got married, when Ryan I got married,

I thought, like, I really wanted her to have my last name so that, like, you know, we'd all be the Brown family. And now it's like, they just calls by her first name. She hates it when they call it by first name. She's like, give me a Miss Ryan, please. Like, she needs, like, a miss in front of it or something. From who? Your kids?

From kids' friends. Got it. From kids' friends in terms of how they address her. But like I, if I had to do it again, would I ask? No, I probably do the same thing, so I'm good. It's all good. Yeah. Yeah.

Popper Malone finally shows up, right? We can tie this up in a little bulb, right? Tie it up. And essentially says, sorry for the delay. I just wanted to tell you to your face. Yeah. No, thank you. Yeah.

Essentially. He said, I will do the best that. We all know that Rebecca's made her decision. I will do the best that I can to sort of like. Tolerate. Tolerate this relationship. And that's when Big Meg's is like, nah, bro, that's not good enough.

You know what I'm saying? Hair blowing in the indoor breeze. It almost looks like what's the novels that like at the grocery store? Yeah, romance now. What's the blonde dude? Fabio. It's Puerto Rican Fabio. He's given Puerto Rican Fabio.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fabian. And he, and he's like, no, man, that's not good enough. He's like, this dude, he said, when I first met him, he came in to get a jacket. So he'd go into a club. Your country club or whatnot. And he said, it wasn't about the jacket, it was about the girl. And all the decisions that he made are about the girl.

You know, taking a job without getting paid so that he could like make inroads in construction, so that he could provide for the girl. So you tolerating this dude, you should be thankful that a dude like this wants to be with your daughter. You know what I'm saying? And it was like every once in a while, like people come from, or I won't say that this is more than the present and whatnot. But you see who we get these moments of seeing who Miguel is. The kind of diehard dude that he is. Because I think this is also a Fogelman.

When people come after somebody, like he doesn't want them necessarily to come after, he's like, I have to show these people. His humanity. You know what I'm saying? And I think this was a moment of like sort of showing that. And there's a lot of that in this episode. There's a lot of that. There's a lot of that.

And then Matheson, first of all, shout out to makeup. Like, he looked real smooth. Yeah. Yeah. That's also VFX, but yes. Is there VFX? Hey, hey. Sorry, sorry.

I didn't know. Just being honest. Shots fired. How much effects do we use it on me all the time? We use effects? Never. Yeah. Really?

Yeah. Because I was looking. He looked baby. He looks smooth. I have error. Did you look at Milo and John, too? There's effects on them too? Yeah.

Really? Effects on all of us. John was like 50. What kind of budget did we? I'm being honest. John looks incredible. Too incredible. He's supposed to play 25 or whatever.

It's like, but I didn't know we were breaking. Like, the first time I remember seeing something like that is on, like, like the Avengers. You remember when they showed like R.D.J. Like back in the day and I was not good. It wasn't great. No, ours is great. Yeah. That's why I thought we didn't use effects. Yeah. Well, there you go. I'm here to tell you. You thought people were just acting younger. They used it to tweak Rebecca present day. Like they use it in different ways. They can't add age, take away age. Really? Yeah. Okay. Improve acting. Yeah. I mean, that's actually the one thing I can't do. Well, they worked for me. Matherson sort of gets the message. He says,

sees through his friend, Miguel, like just what kind of stand-up guy, this dude who wants to marry his daughter is, and he asks if you got a stick of butter. It's like there's a little trick that I know. No, you do have dental floss. Dental floss. They've already been sitting there. Mr. Malone has opened the door to two men holding a stick of butter. That's right. Which is a natural thing between two men. People. People. We like butter. And Miguel's like, is it going to hurt? It's like, just a little bit. Just a little bit.

But that's pretty much the totality of that thing, right? In the present, what you want to do? Kevin of Madison, I feel like we should start out with there is a shot of Us magazine with them on the cover. Engaged. Look at that rock. There's like a zoom in on like the engagement ring. Yeah. I remember their wedding planner.

I don't remember a name. But I remember her because she had a very cool haircut, like sort of shaved on one side, and she was a motorcycle. And her and Milo rode motorcycles together. Every once in a while, like, would get together with a group of people and, like, ride. Oh, cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's how she found her way to the show. I don't know if that's it in totality. She's an actor, and she probably auditioned as well, but she just likes to ride. That's it. That's right. Very cool. Yeah. Yeah, so they're sitting down, planning the wedding,

talking about venues and guest lists, and we can tell that all of this is pretty easygoing stuff for for Kevin and Madison might be bristling a little more like hung up on things. There are dream wedding venues available. Kevin's excited and Madison has to fame like, oh. Yeah. Yeah.

That's, I just didn't think that was possible. That's really exciting. And the wedding planners asking like, do you have your wedding parties? And they're trying to explain it's going to be a really small wedding. Kate, you know, his sister, she's going to be my maid of honor. I've already asked her. We cried. It was great.

And then Kevin, who's going to be your best man? Kevin hasn't asked his best man, which is Randall. plans on asking his brother. And she's like, well, when are you going to do it? And he's like, oh, I'm going to get around to it. And he's like, well, you should get it. He's like, yeah, yeah, no, not a problem. We also had two catchphrases.

It feels like an episode of television coming on. Mandy say what? Mandy say what? Mandy say what? Mandy say what? How have we not been saying Mandy say what? This entire time. One of the TV show.

Mandy say what? There should have totally been a shirt, like a shirt of Mandy holding a baby in just her bra. It was like, all three babies. Yeah. Man, we really missed the bill with that. What is wrong with us? We'll make them now.

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Should we dovetail this with Cotobi sort of thing? Or just keep it clean? Because you guys have a really lovely scene with each other. Oh, yeah. I mean, we could do it just with that scene. With just that scene. Yeah. I mean, I remember this day at the park.

Yeah. Very well. It was, it was, I can really, I've come back now after a little bit of break with Toby. Toby's got some cheeks stubble. Yep. He's clearly out of work. He's clearly a man at home. Yeah.

And I will point out we got at the top of the episode. This is one of my favorite scenes, by the way. Do you know what I'm going? Go ahead. At the top of the episode, you're sitting there, you're feeding baby Jack or whatnot. Kate's getting ready for her first day of school, teaching the blind, how to sing, what have you. And like, this is the moment, the thought that I had was, oh, man, I would hate to see Chris frustrated for a prolonged period of time. Because, like, you see on his face, it's just like, he's like, I'm enduring.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I'm existing. I'm in a state of endurance right now. Like, not enjoyment, but, you know, I'm putting on a brave face and we're going to make it happen, right? Supportive of his wife who's about to go out and do her thing, et cetera. But this moment can only, only come. from just like a gift from the gods.

Oh, yeah. Where Chris seems a lick. His wife's going. So in between takes, I'm hanging out with these babies. Yes. So we're on set, and in between takes, you know, Wells and I are... Who's Wells? The baby.

Little baby. Baby, guys are baby. Baby, Jeff. Baby, Jack. I remember Bill. Wells and I are getting to know each other. And he is now, he is also growing up on this show. Sure.

And he was aidi-baby baby when I first met. And now he's coming into his words. And I also am a father now. Yeah. I am I inter... I'm sorry, am I boring you? Mandy Moore just yawned right in my face. Chris, for listeners, for context, it is 1.45.

Yeah. It is second cup time. Oh, we didn't get you one. You asked for one, too. I did. Rob, Wobby-wob. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm boring. I've read the second cup of coffee today. No, it was too good. Listen, we're cremtop babies. Mandy, I have, I've been doing the silent yawns for about an hour and a half. Because anybody with kids under the age of eight knows that around this time of eight. I have a kid that wakes up every morning at like 515 that's like, mom, I have to poop or something. You know, anyway, sorry, sorry.

You and Wells. Real quick, let's do an acting exercise. Let's all look into our camera and do a person holding in a yawn. Ready? I'll go first. This is what it looks like to me. It looked like you holding it more than y'all and McDonald's. When someone is like talking to you and they're like, that's what it looks like.

I'm just a pee on my pants. Sterling, now you go. There you go. I can't. Nobody can do better than that, Chris. Okay, all right, okay, all right, fine. It's like that is the peak. He was holding in, a yawn and something else.

But when you're trying to like, you like nod along with somebody, you're like, and you're yawning like, yeah. It's like your whole mouth is like. Yeah, yeah. And they know you're yawning. You like go cross-eyed a little bit, but you're still just like trying to hide it. Oh, shit. Oh, God.

Yes, they definitely know. So I have. That's why I didn't hold it in. Okay. I was talking about, I was talking about, you know, we were talking about Wells and his parents are there obviously because he doesn't drive himself to set. Sure. And they were saying, I think his mom was saying that like he hates it when I sing in the car. You know how kids?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do your kids do this? Yeah, no, I'm singing. Don't sing, dad, da. Yeah, no singing. I just want to express my joy with this song. Yeah. And of course, in your family, they're saying it to two professional.

singers. Well, and you too. You're a professional singer. You've got an album. But anyway, so they're like, they're like, they're like, he hates it when mom sings in the car. And I'm like, okay. Interesting.

And so at the end of this take, as Mama goes off to work, I just look right at Wells and I go, I want to rock. And Well, goes, no. I say, okay. Just without skipping a beat. It's great. It's great. It's perfect.

Whenever Wells hears an adult sing, he goes, No. Well done. That was well... Which would have been his first speaking line on television. Yeah. That's right. I wonder if they had to pay him more for that.

Yeah. That's the day he entered the union. That's true. That's true. He was taffed Justin Hartley before that. That's where it comes from. Did you know that? I didn't.

I didn't. So you guys, you wind up meeting Madison at the park. That was really funny, Chris. That was, I was, that's like... like a full body. I thought like I worked out. That was awesome. We could also play smallest smile. Do you want to play smallest smile? No, I need you to do it. It's a Pete Holmes game. He plays it with his wife and what you do is you I'll just laugh. You you you this is the challenge right? It's an acting exercise. Oh God. Okay. It's a great game. Okay. Smallest smile and you

You look down and you look up and you have to smile as small as you possibly can. So you look down and you go like that. Oh, that's good. And that's it. That was the smallest smile I could do. Now you do one to your camera. Sterling. Okay, now Sterling's turn.

Yeah, you can do it. We have to do it. Yes, you have to do it. Nope. This tiny title. You're the most awarded actor amongst the three of us. I got to see Sterling K. Brown's. Just get it?

Hold on. Mindy. Hold on. Okay. I saw that. Okay. And we're going to do smallest smile. I can't do a small smile.

You can't. You can't. You can't. You look down. You go back to even. You go back to even. And then you look up with the camera and you give your smallest smile. Come on.

This is my camera. Oh, Jiminy, Christmas. Heaven's the Merk of Mercury, Troy. Mandy, that was funny. You guys are in rare form today. That was like a facial twitch. This is good. This is a good game.

Oh, we've really got Natalie. Don't worry. I got it on video. We'll put it on socials. Maddie's crazy. I guess the whole thing's on video. We got seven cameras running. This is like a podcast.

Oh, you guys. So the next scene is Toby and Madison at the park. Yes. Which I, the park, let's talk about parks. You haven't been to a park in 30 years. And then all of a sudden, you're at parks every day with these little kids. When we were living in New York. Yeah.

And it was me and eight nannies at the park. Yeah. And these nannies got it locked down. They got bubble machines. They got charging stations. They got toys. They got a picnic basket of. Toys for everybody.

It's like a whole snacks. They got the shovels. Yeah. Yeah. And they're sharing with everybody. They look at you. They see you have nothing. They should give you a shovel.

Yeah. And so now we find Toby, stay at home dad, at the park with the kids. Wells is, baby Jack is in the stroller. Yeah. Eating puffs. Eating that booty. Yeah, the booty. That pirate's booty.

Yeah, I know what you meant. You know which booty. It's delicious. At first I was like, where's Haley? This is twice, even in that first scene too. Y'all have two children now. Yeah. Where's the baby girl at?

I think it was a double stroller. No, she was on the picnic table in the car seat with the little cover on her. So she wasn't really in there. But I was like, I guess you don't have to acknowledge it. But in my mind, I was like, wait, where's the other kid? She was sleeping. She's sleeping. And she was sleeping in the first scene, too, I guess.

Yeah, she's tiny. Yeah, she's tiny. Remember all they do is sleep. That is true. That is true. There you go. Okay. Pan over.

She's in one of those baby swings. Just by herself. Just like, passed out. Swaying in the breeze. Unsupported. There you go. That second trial just doesn't get the same. Nope.

Not all. Nope. Be free. And I don't remember what they're talking about. What are they talking about? Madison basically admit she's like, I don't, he says how's wedding planning going? And she's like, I don't want to get married at this venue that Kevin's really excited about. And Toby's like, well, have you mentioned it to him?

She's like, yeah, I have a hard time doing that with like men and with basically everybody. Women, sometimes children. Yeah. She's funny too. She's very funny. And then Toby talks about how he's having a really hard time being a stay-at-home dad. Yeah. Yeah.

I like it for the first couple hours. but for 10 hours in a row. 10 hours in a row is hard. He liked his job. He liked the coffee. He liked doing it. Like all the things that come along with it. Honestly, being 10 hours with my kid is just not my cup of tea.

I didn't really mean that, but I did really mean that. You know what I'm saying? It's an interesting conversation to have because there's this idea that you should be so happy to do this. And some people are. Yeah. And God bless. Some people are good at it. And some people are like, you know what, because I love them,

doesn't mean that I also don't want to do these other things. Right? And I think that's the tough thing as a parent, especially in this particular role reversal, where you've been the primary bread winner, et cetera. It's like, now you're flipping so that your wife has an opportunity to do her thing. And you're like, is it right for me to express anything

other than gratitude? Right. You know what I'm saying? Which we get into a little bit more in the next episode, too. Like this idea that we as parents, as siblings, as whomever, like only have the right to express one thing. Yeah. Right.

And there's a lot of stuff going on inside of us. You know, what happens at the playground stays at the playground. You guys created a safe space for each other and both encouraged each other. They'd be like, well, maybe you should do something. Say something about that. Yeah. And we can kind of wrap up kind of Kate and Toby's whole storyline because it's all kind of around this idea, right? that Toby likes his job and likes being a parent,

but wishes he had work. And now Kate has work. And in these scenes, we see her having a hard time being a way, she wishes that she could be spending time with the kids, even though she also likes her job, you know, in theory, even though her new British boss is... Don't gloss over this, bro. A bit of a prick.

Don't gloss over this. This is big. This is the introduction. Of a prick. The intro. We've been him once before? No, this is the introduction. This is the first episode with Chris Geer?

This is our first episode with Philip. He's masked. We don't know what he looks like. No. This is interesting. Can I say this? This is jumping forward a little bit. I think I remember having this conversation with you, so, where you're like, I'm feeling a

little bit of a way about this guy's presence. A new guy, yeah. Yeah. You just touch on it for a second because I'm sure we'll revisit it. No, I mean, it was just like, just... Did you know? Yeah, like we knew that this is where we were going. Yeah, with the storylines.

It's kind of a way for everybody. Like, Chrissy was... She was feeling away, too. Feeling away. Even Chris was, like, showing up on this show that's been going for five seasons. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he has to be the one to play out this storyline. Hard.

And it actually, it made things on. uncomfortable for me and Chrissy. Did it? Yeah, it was just like, it was all just kind of right there. It was like, oh, wow, yeah, here we are. At this stage of the story. That was like, how do you do? Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, obviously we know it's made up, it's acting all these things. Sure. Yeah, it was an interesting switch. Because part of, but, you know, and in these scenes, you know, it's very clear that she's, she loves what she does and she wants to be doing what she's doing. But also, yeah, if you're going to show up, you need to show up focused.

Right. You need to be able to do your job and not interfere with anybody else's job. And as he says, there were lots of other people who had way more qualifications to do this. But so-and-so liked your vibe or your energy, so you wound up with the cake. Like your vibe. And so, yeah, they're not off to a good start. But Kate has a nice moment with one of her students where she inspires her to unleash more of her. her creative potential.

That's right. And she comes home, very excited about that. Yeah. And Toby offers some photos from the day. So it's a very, it's very, actually, it's a very kind of well-balanced episode as far as what the two of them are struggling with. They both want to be working about as, you know, about the same amount. And they both want to be parenting.

Yeah. But they find themselves in this tricky situation. This is, not an exact parallel, but I, And Rye has gone away twice to New York to shoot things or whatnot. And it's interesting because she'll call them like, how to kids. I was like, kids are good? They're great. And you're like, are you sure?

I'm like, I'm here with them right now. They're live and well. I mean, they're beside themselves with missing you. It's interesting because they cannot stop crying for missing their mother. There you go. But other than that. Maybe I should lead. In the future, I'll probably lead with them.

that because I think I made it sound too good. Yeah, like, they're fine. They don't even know you're gone. Oh, it's, yeah. I can't say that. No, but it could be like when I was gone for a week shooting. Yeah. And things can get a little hairy when either one of us are out of town.

But bedtime in particular, Rachel has a harder time with. I do not. Okay. So when Rachel goes out of town and, and she asked how was bedtime and I say, that's fine. Sooky smooth. I can tell. She's like, okay. Oh, it must be nice.

Okay. You got to amp it up a little bit. I mean, there was a little bit of struggle. Yeah. The interesting thing, too, is like, if I'm out of town, like, all I really try to do, because my wife is, when she's on the train, she's going, and you kind of don't want to interrupt her when she's on the train. Like, she's just, like, a task-oriented person that's knocking shit out throughout the day.

So you don't want to stop the rhythm. So I try to call when I believe they're supposed to be in the car on the way to school. Same. Same. But they haven't made it to the car yet. And then Brown, and then Brown goes, okay, that's fine. They'll be a little late, and that's not a big deal. I have a thing about time.

There's not enough of it. And then I'll try to call just as bedtime is about to happen so I can say good night and tell them that I love them, right? That's it. But it's interesting when she's gone, she calls way more. She calls way more. And I'm like, oh, you're missing your kids, are you? Yeah, it's interesting.

You know, I miss my kids too. There is, okay, wait. I don't want to gloss over anything because we started with Kevin and Madison, and then we sort of dovetel into Cotobie or whatever. But now we've kind of wrapped up Toby and Kate's story. Here's one thing I want to ask about Philip, because it is his introduction. Do you feel like you use the word prick? In watching it again this time around, does he seem overly harsh or does he seem like

he has a point of view that should be respected? Like in terms of how you guys have experienced. Both. I think he's, yeah. I think the writers want him to come off. you'd be questioning that. Yeah. He's a little crispy, but you're like, okay.

But also you have a point. But you have a point, and like she is a working person, a teacher at the school. And like, yeah. It's kind of like there's a time to be professional. Or are you just English? There's a nicer way he could absolutely go about it. Yeah, he doesn't embrace her at all.

No. Not yet. Not yet. Here we go. Should we go to Kevin and Madison? Yeah. Going back to. Kevin and Madison. Back to Kevin and Madison because it sort of dovetails with Miguel, present day, and Uncle Nicky sort of talking about the rehearsal dinner.

Nikki wants to help. He makes some comment about like, oh yeah, Miguel, the guy who's banging my brother's wife. Yeah. It's like, whoa, dude. Yeah. Strong. Like harboring some real aggressive. Strong. And then they get together. Miguel's just happy. Just like, hey, guys, you know, MC Revis. He's got his three-ring binder. He's a three-ring binder, and I love that he's like, what did he say, like, brusketta or something? I was thinking about a Christina

salmon, something, or whatever. And bacon-wrap dates. Yeah, brusketta. Yeah, brusketta. Love him. Love him. So God. And Nick, he's like, you know,

why are you doing his small food? He's like, hey, kid, you want a bunch of small finger foods or like a big regular food? And Justin's reaction, like, yeah. Kevin is over there. trying to come up with an email, to send to Randall to ask him to be his best man. A format that Uncle Nicky has already sort of advised against.

Email. Email. Email. I just call. That a little informal. Yeah. That's a good name. I like your Griffin impression.

It's solid. It's solid. And Kev, you see Kev is struggling. He's just uncomfortable with it. There's been a, listen, things have thawed, right? Especially since the birth of the birth of the... the twins and whatnot. And there's been some sort of...

But they have not been resolved. Not resolved. Yeah, there's no resolution. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's been acknowledged, like, we do need to have a conversation. Yeah. Yeah. That moment wasn't the right point in time.

Sure. And so, yes, that conversation still needs to be had. Yeah. But Nicholas and Miguel, like, it continues to grow because at one point in time, what, like, Miguel says something. And he goes, like, you mean the same way that you, like, stole my brother's wife away from? He swooped in to marry my brother's wife. brother's wife.

Yeah, he's like, what did you say? And he's like, ah, how about, you know, he completely throws it away. But he comes back and he says it again more pointedly. And this is the thing, one of the things about this interaction that was, stood out to me, it was the first time we've really seen Kevin stand up for. For Miguel. Yeah. Barely.

Yeah. He does. No, he's like, he's like, Nicky, what the hell? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What the hell? What the hell, bro?

But Miguel says no. And then a hidden yawn. Yeah. Totally. He's got newborns, you know. What the hell, bro? If you don't watch our show, that's, you're missing out. You're missing out.

Oh, God. But this is kind of where we see Miguel's, Miguel, you know, Miguel stood up for Jack. Yeah. in that storyline. And now we see Miguel standing up for himself. For sure. We've seen him do it before at his family's Thanksgiving dinner. Christmas.

Christmas dinner? Yeah. Where his family was throwing shade about him marrying his best friend's wife. And now here he has to do it for Nikki as well. His family is throwing shade at Rebecca. Oh, that's right. And he's like, you can come after everybody. Like, I may not have been perfect.

I may not have been around as much. but this woman, don't mess. Don't mess. And he essentially says to Nikki that there's only one person I owe an explanation to, and it's the only person I can never give one to. I certainly don't owe one to you, sir. Come on. And the idea of swooping in, like, it's sort of painting out for the audience.

It's like, hey, man, 13 years went by before the two of us got together. So the idea that I was just waiting to pounce or something like that, Let us all dispel ourselves. Oh my God. You know what? Keep the cameras rolling. Bring it, get over to Mandy Moore, please, first.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen from the flightless bird podcast. Rob Hollis. Thank you, Rob. They do the coffee, Brown does a chide. God bless you, sir. Rob, do you want to sit down and play a game with us?

Sit down and play a game. Well, you can do smallest smile. Let's do small as small. And then he has to do the yon too. So Smallest Smile is a Pete Holmes game that he plays. And you look down and you look back up and you try to smile. Give us your smallest smile, Chris. So here, like this.

Is that a smile? It's the smallest smile. If you can do a smaller one, I challenge you. So if you look right here into Sterling's camera and look down, look down, look down, and then look up and do smallest smile. He's cute. We looked like we had something wrong. Yeah, it was like a.

If anybody listening to that was us needs another good podcast to listen to. Listen to one of my favorite podcasts, Flightless Bird. Yep. With Rob Hollis and your co-star, David, Farrier. Farrier. Farrier. Good. Rob, thank you.

This is so kind of you. With no prompting. No prompting except from his wife. I think his wife hit him up. I know. She put the bat signal up. Thank you, Rob. Randy's yawning on camera.

Yeah, I was boring the shit out. We're just cream top babies. He said, am I bored you? That's maybe my favorite thing you ever have said. It's so good. Which one? He's a cream top cookie boy. Cookie boy came from armchair.

Okay. But I'm a cream top cookie boy. Nice. Okay. If you put frosting on a cookie, does it become something else? That's a frosted cookie. Okay. There's iced oatmeal.

You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Sandwich? Yeah. Do I know. The sandwich? What? No.

No? No. No. Famous Amos made an iced oatmeal that was delectable. No. Do you know Amos? Amos and I have beef. No, I'm just like, I'm a chocolate chip cookie girl.

Period. That's the only cookie you mess with. I mean, I'll mess with a peanut butter, but oatmeal is not my jam. Maybe an oatmeal chocolate chip, but like none of this oatmeal with raisin. I don't want a cookie with the raisin. I hate raisins. Absolutely. We lost them as a sponsor, but so as we can scar.

California raisins? They get stuck in. You brought back to California raisins? I'd be back in. Listen. Remember those? No, listen. I did love them.

Moms would give me those. These were a regular lunch. Oh, the sun-made ones? No. I hated them. No, hated. My teeth. It stopped.

How about when you got them? as from on Halloween when people gave out raisins. Did you ever get that? That's awful. It's like people giving out apples. I'm like, come on. This is also, listen.

Those people get their houses burned down. I know we're- That's what happened to the Pearson's. I know we're jumping around a little bit, but my wife insists out of nostalgia of getting candy corn. Candy corn should be done. Oh, see, I'm a candy corn girl.

You like candy corn? I know it's so divisive. It just tastes like sugar. It is. That's not good. There's no flavor. It's honey. I don't know. I love candy corn. Do you really? Do you like a candy corn pumpkin where it's just a little bit more candy corn in one bite?

No, I prefer the original. You don't like them. You do. Just not a candy corn pumpkin. You like them. Todd and Natalie do. Do you like candy corn? I used to when I was when I was a child. Wow. Wow. This is like this point. We are on one today. Yeah, candy corn is one of those weirdly divisive things. They can either love it or you hate it. There's no. A lot like Miguel. There you go. Way to pull it back in. Way to pull it. Way to pull it.

Miguel sticks up for himself. And that's the end of... And then Nikki, you see sort of relent a little bit. He's like, okay, I came a little bit too hard. I can back off a little bit. More that was us after this short break. If this is us has taught us anything, it's that a home is never just a home.

It's where all the big moments and the small ones happen. Like you think of all the Pearson House moments. There was always something happening in every corner, but in real life, there's usually that one space that just sits there. And the practical side of it is those spaces still have value. Whether it's a guest room or your whole place when you're away, you could be listing it on Airbnb and turning that unused space into extra income.

And if you've ever considered listing your space, but it felt a little overwhelming. Now it's easier than ever with Airbnb's co-host network. You can hire a local experienced co-host who can handle the details and help manage everything for you. That's the part I've, whenever I've thought about listing my home on Airbnb or our guesthouse or anything like that, that is the part that has been kind of the most anxiety-inducing. Like, how do I handle all these bookings and the scheduling and watching the calendar? And, you know, if my guests need anything, I want to, I want to, I want to, them to be comfortable and I want them to be helped immediately, but if I'm not available,

who can do that? And now Airbnb has a whole kind of network of hosts, professional hosts, who can do that for you. A co-host can handle guest communication, manage reservations, and even provide on-site support. So hosting feels a lot more stress-free. So it doesn't feel like you're taking on a whole new responsibility. It just becomes something that actually fits into your life. If you're curious about getting started, find a co-host at Airbnb.com slash host. We'll jump back into Madison ends up telling Kevin she doesn't want to get married at this magical venue. And in fact, he's like, well, where do you? And she tells the story about how her dad wasn't around much when she was growing up. But he took them, her and her mother on this vacation to Japan

one time and she walked around like the most beautiful garden she's ever been to and it was this weirdly magical trip and like two weeks later they got home and her parents told her that they were splitting up and this this beautiful garden just loomed large in her memory and sort of this nostalgia of how good it felt like being on that trip and her family was all together and she's like there is this garden it's nothing fancy it's not like this other venue but like if I had my druthers, I think I want to get married in a place like this. Okay. And Kevin's like, okay.

And she's like, what? Like, it's not easy? Yeah. And then we see Nikki coming to apologize to Miguel. Yeah. About what he said. Right. And Miguel goes...

Did you call? No. No, it was in person. It's still in person. And Miguel kind of goes into this whole explanation. Nikki felt like, first I get replaced with you. Yeah. And then you come in and take his wife or whatnot.

It's like, what am I supposed to think of this? And then you're going to say. And then Miguel basically says, you know, when Jack asked me to stand beside him when he married Rebecca, he didn't ask me to be his best man. Because in my mind, I think he was always saving that spot for you. Right. It was a really beautiful way of putting it. And you could tell it really touched Nikki. Totally.

That's kind of where that storyline ends. And then I believe Kevin calls Randall finally, right? We see him at the computer. I think for a second, and then he's like, that's not going to work. He winds up calling. But I feel like we should touch on that after we do Randall's storyline. Beth and everybody, right?

Yeah. We're in Philly. That's making poppers. Beth is making poppers. Alex is coming over to the house for the first time. We know that they and Tess are seeing each other. And Beth is really working on her pronouns.

They're coming over. I want them to feel comfortable. I was like, you're working on your pronouns. Good for you. And she's nervous, but that's what's going to happen. Randall is about to go to a group therapy session for the first time. Beth is like, you know what, man, just try to listen.

You don't have to jump in both feet and do a bunch of talking. He's like, I am an orator. That's what I do. And she's like, just, anyway, later for you. There at the house, Alex comes through. Beth greets her with the poppers. So happy to have you here. have a popper. Tessa's like, we'll take them upstairs. That's how we're going to do it, right?

Mama C is sitting on the couch. She's on the couch, I think, pretty much the whole episode. Yeah. Except at the beginning when she takes the Us magazine or the, it's Us, out of my hands and being like, oh, J-Lo just likes to do this thing with Jiggin. I'm like, yeah. She likes Frappuccino. Yeah, just like J-Lo. You just like J-Lo. And that's just Randals from being like, when is this lady going to leave my house? Okay. They go upstairs. Beth is downstairs with her mom. things are kind of quiet up there, right? She says, studying is an inherently quiet activity. You know what I'm saying? Studying is inherent.

Yeah, and Deja's like, that's not fair. Like when Malik is over, we have to like be in my room with the door open. The door is closed. That is correct. Yeah, and she was like, well, the door's not closed right now. And Deja's like, yeah, it is. Their door is closed. I'm like, oh.

And then Beth is like, well, that shouldn't be. It's this interesting thing of like, okay, things should be even. but like am I coming down extra hard because I have a problem with who she's spending time with? Like this mental calculus is all going on. This is the only storyline in the history of the show where we see Beth confused. Totally.

Yeah. And it's so awkward to watch. It's very true. And so she's like, well, I guess I got to put my foot down and Mama Cia's like, Tread lightly, Bethany. I love it when she calls her Bethany. It's like one of my favorite things. I love it too.

Beth goes upstairs. She opens the door. Seems the two of them were in the middle of some cuddles on the bed, right? Yeah. And she's like, all, you guys can take this downstairs. Yeah. And she's like, Mom, what are you doing? And she calls her a total psycho.

And she's like, what do you call me? Now, listen, I think it's because it's network TV because you could probably go up even higher than that. Yeah. It would have been BITCA, you know, something like that. Because we're talking about calling somebody out of their name, It normally is evocative of like, oh, you're such a bitch or something like that. I've never heard that phrase before.

I really like it. Calling somebody out their name? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't you ain't going to call me out my name. So she excuses Alex, right? And Alex is like, Tess. Yeah, yeah.

It's all good. Alex knows who's in the right here and who's... Yeah. It's all good, right? Alex, they wound up leaving, and then they later have a conversation, do Beth and Tess, right? after she calmed down a little bit.

And Beth, did she, what did Beth say? Hold on. Well, Tess accuses her of having a look. Like when Alex let, when you opened the door and saw Alex and I embracing, you had a look. Yep. And Beth is like, I didn't have a look. And she goes downstairs and then she comes back up to apologize to Tess later. Yeah.

After talking to her mom. And says that, you know what, she was having trouble letting go. of these expectations she has for tests, right? She had pictured her life and what it was going to look like and walking her down the aisle or whatever she said. And just like she's her firstborn and having to sort of recalibrate now was just not something she had in mind.

Like she loves her unconditionally, obviously. It's just, it's a process. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Carol basically was like, I had to do the same thing with you. I pictured the way your life was going to unfold and it took time to see that what I wanted for you wasn't the way it was all going to happen.

Yeah. And that was okay. Adjust. Time is so precious. You blink and your daughter's grown and you're holed up in her house trying to make up for 20 years of not adjusting. Yeah.

And it sort of hit Beth in a way to be like, oh, okay. Let me adjust. Let me adjust. But it was a very sweet moment between that mother and daughter because Beth just sort of like leans into her mom's shoulder. Yeah. And her mom just sort of like holds her face. It was really, really, really, really sweet.

And so Beth goes up and says, you know, I have to basically adjust, et cetera. And Tess says, like, I know you're trying, which is really sweet. And she said, but I also know that you don't have to try with Dasia or with Annie. And I wonder if we're ever going to be. And that makes me sad. That makes me sad. I wonder if we're going to be close. And she's like, we are close.

Like, what are you talking about? But there's, I can't remember the resolution. Was it, was there a full on resolution or was there? No, that was kind of, it was kind of, it was kind of, it was like, okay. But that's life. I kind of like that. Listen, I'm gonna tell you something. Like, right now, I got this 14 year old and this 10 year old, right? And the 14 year old is going through his own thing.

And he's a beautiful boy. And I love him like tremendously. And you do. You're not even conscious of this idea that like these expectations that you have, right, that you haven't even articulated to yourself. And like, there's a part of me that was like, I thought, you know, grow up and he'll play this sport or whatnot. And he pivots and does something else. And that's like, he'll have his hair.

And then he does something different. And you're like, okay. So he's his own person. Right. And it's sort of just like living with that truth. and being like, I have to let them be them. Yeah. Right?

I think every parent goes through it. And the friction is caused about how long or how hard you hold on to an idea versus the reality that is directly in front of you. Right. You know what I'm saying? It's not always easy, but it is a necessary part of the parenting process. Yeah. It's, oh, boy, Lord have mercy.

It's something. It's no joke. It's not for the fainted heart. So that's that storyline, right? Then we visit Randall at this therapy session. Middle of COVID, like we said earlier, there's masks, there's space in between the seats or whatnot. But it is specifically for transracial adoptees. And there's two new guys in the group, Randall and my man whose name I can't remember at this moment. I don't think he introduced himself.

Asian cat. Good act, I remember. And he's talking about how he grew up on the East Coast. with white Jewish parents. He remembers looking out at his bar mitzvah and not seeing anybody that looks like him, right? And there's a whole series of people talking about just sort of these moments in their lives

where they felt othered or not fully belonging. And then we show little clips of Randall as a young boy with his dad, right? Or with his mom lying in bed with each other. And there's a sweetness and wonderfulness, but the part that is unspoken is like, what would it be like if I was with the people who I belong to sort of thing? You know what I know? The blood, the physical sort of images or reflection of myself. And like you were saying before, like we were saying before at the park. So this idea that gratitude is the only thing that I have space to feel or that society gives me space to feel.

feel is sort of like, but it doesn't mean I'm not grateful, but I feel other things too. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And I think it was at one point they asked Randall if he wants to speak and he thinks about it for a second. And I think he remembers Beth's advice. He's like, you know what? I think I just want to listen for it today. It's funny because I felt like he was really surprised at what he was experiencing.

I mean, that was what I got, that he was like, under normal circumstances, he would have spoken, but, like, I think he was really just sort of taken aback by how much he was really taking in this circle of people. Yeah. How much his experience was being reflected back. Exactly, exactly. Right. Yeah, it was a really beautiful moment, I thought. Not alone in this thing. There's a phrase in the recovery circles that it can be the downfall of people who get isolated or insolated or insoling.

or in their thinking. And it's terminal uniqueness. Oh, interesting. I love that. You know, where you think... It's kind of related to self-pity in a way, where it's like, no, no, no one, no one can understand what I'm going through because I am terminally unique.

Right. And so to be sat in a group of other people who are saying the exact same, I mean, we've got clips from four seasons of a show, like, Oh, that way. Randall had that moment. Randall had that moment. Randall had that moment. And it's kind of a nice awakening of like an unburdening, maybe a little bit.

It starts to feel lighter, even though these are heavy subjects. There's a, there's a lady who had said something that was really powerful about, like, if I had to, I think she's Puerto Rican. Yeah. And she's talking about how if I had it to do over again, like I wish I had, didn't even, have this family because I would have just rather stayed with my bipolar mother or whatnot because there's a belonging that's unquestioned, you know, versus this other thing of like, what do I have to do to make sure that nobody sees me as being unworthy ever again?

You know what I mean? Like, how hard do I have to work to make sure that I stay in the embrace? And she said she's admitted that to her adoptive family. Yeah. And now half of that family. has not talking about it. Yeah. So, okay.

Then we go to just the end of the episode. Kevin and Randall having that conversation. Kevin Randall having a conversation. And Kev's like, hey, man, if you be my best man. He's like, of course, man. I'd be on it too. You know, he's like, it took me a long time to actually even ask you or whatnot. And, you know, I know there's a lot of things that we haven't talked about.

And he's like, you know what, man, today's been kind of a day. Like, I get it. Oh, at a certain point, I was like, Randall, just let them. The man is trying to say something to you. But I appreciate it because it's true to life. Yeah. Yeah. That's how these things go.

Yeah. It's like let's just kick that can down the road a little further. Two people say the worst things they've ever said. And over time, they go, no, that's okay. Right. It's fine. We're good. And then they'd never talk about it.

Sure. And it might thaw and it might, but it might never be quote unquote fully resolved. Right. Both people think it's been resolved. Yeah. Because someone said, no, it's good. Right.

But it's, it's... They'll get there. It's true. Yeah. I mean, it's true to how those things unfold. Well, and also, it's like, who wants to open that can of worms again? Like, it's been a day for him. It's been a day for Kevin, too.

Sure. But I like the day, he's like, you know what? I don't think he's like, what if I come to you? Like, he... Yeah. To his credit, to Kevin Pearson's credit, he's like, listen, I'm getting married. I think this is, like, if I'm inside his head, I want to make sure that you're standing next to me, not out of a sense of obligation, but like,

we got to clear the air before this date. That was an insane, insane experience. Which one? Well, watching them have that fight. Oh, yeah, that was. You know what I mean? It's like there has to be some resolution there. Yeah.

And the fact that he is willing to be like, I'm going to fly to you. Yeah. This isn't a phone call. This is an in-person thing. You're really busy. You have your hands full. I've already talked to Madison. She's, you know, they have the support there to help her with the babies.

It's like, yeah, let him go. Yeah. And have this conversation. And I haven't watched it yet, but I remember this episode. I don't. I was thinking the same thing. I was like, I was watching this one. I'm like, I can't wait to see what happens.

Me too. Well, so in the therapy session, a lot of it will come back to possibly. In the therapy session, somebody's talking about their palace. Ghost kingdom. Ghost kingdom. The ghost kingdom. Which is sort of like, you sort of build this thing out and imagine what your life would have been like if you got a chance to be with your birth family. Right.

And so that's a big part of the next one that's coming up. And also just this idea like all three of them, all three of these siblings have their own experience and memories of childhood. Right. You can only see it through your prison until somebody says like, Can I show you my prism for a second? Can you take a moment to say it from my perspective? And then maybe what I'm saying will make sense. Because I feel like that's a lot of what happens in that next episode.

It's a good one. It's a good one. And this was a good one. We got a fan segment. We're going to be talking about some proposal stories. We'll be right back with more. That was us. One of the sweetest storylines in this episode is Jack planning the perfect proposal

for Rebecca and recreating their very first date. So it got us thinking about all the different ways that people pop the question. I wonder. Some proposals are perfectly planned and others don't go, let's say, the way that you imagine. So, for this fan segment, we ask you to share your proposal stories. Let us jump right in and hear a few.

This is an email from Kiara B. Here we go. So, to start off, my husband, Hunter, and I met when he was and I was 20. The connection was immediate, but we both felt we were too young and needed time to accomplish some life before getting into what we both knew would be a serious relationship. So we decided to stay friends and give each other time to grow in the meantime. This is very mature.

Then the pandemic happened. With his mom being immunocompromised and myself being an essential worker, it was rough for a while there, but we pushed through and started dating in 2020. That backstory is important because Hunter spent half of 2019 and the entirety of 2020 making me gifts. That's G-I-F-T-S. Yeah. So when we began dating, he made me a mailbox and explained that each month I'd receive a letter from the year before corresponding to that date and a gift to go with each one. So in 2002, when he told me he had organized the scavenger hunt for me, which I love,

that would lead to more gifts, it didn't strike me as odd right away. The scavenger hunt was based on our relationship, including people and spots that were important to us, and had 21 spots, most of which included gifts. One gift was a jewelry holder in a thrift store that was being used to display jewelry for sale. I had seen it on a date almost six months before and offhandedly said I liked it. He went back, tried to buy it, was told it was not for sale, and then came back with a replacement he handmade so I could get that specific one. Anyway, the scavenger hunt culminated to a spot by a creek that we loved where Hunter read a letter to me from himself from two years before,

saying that if I was reading it, it meant that he was right in thinking the moment we met that I'd be his wife. Then the book I was gathering clues in revealed, will you marry me, Tink? Tink is his nickname for me. After he proposed, he walked up a trail, and I was surprised to see my friends and family all gathered for dinner. He's a real-life prince charming, and that was just the beginning of what's been a beautiful fairy tale. Look at them, those cuties.

Oh, come on. What a sweet guy. That is some real Jack Pearson, like... That is a very cute couple. Oh, my God. Look at them. Look at his glasses. He's cute. She's cute. Look at that smart. She's so happy.

Thank you, Kiar. You heard the story, y'all. Get out there. Do the work. Don't phone it in. Don't phone it in. Don't phone it in. Who's got the next one? All right. The next one is from Samantha W. My husband proposed to me in 2019 on his 30th birthday. We are both March babies. At the beginning of our relationship, he would leave sticky notes for me to find some obvious, some sneaky. and I saved them in this wooden box he made for my birthday. Well, he gradually took out some to make this huge sign that spelled out,

Will you marry me? Oh, wow. During the party, he had all of us go downstairs at my sister-in-law's house and had me sit on a stool and close my eyes. Then when I opened my eyes, he was kneeling, and our friends and family, including my seven-year-old son from a previous marriage, was holding the sign, and I said, finally!

We had been dating for three years. We originally planned to get married on Halloween 2020 because it was a Saturday, but due to the pandemic, we eloped with my son present at the beach in Lincoln City, Oregon. On July 25th, 2020, we've now been married five and a half years

and have two boys together for a total of three boys. Three boys, boy mom. Nice. Love the show and the podcast. Samantha W. Nice. Samantha. Those are all the sticky notes that make the sign, will you marry me?

That's good. That is really good. That's really, really good. These are some creative. This is Jack Pearson-Tyke stuff. It really is. Okay. Okay, so I have one last email from Natty S.

She says, hi, Mandy Sterling, and Chris. My name is Natty. Big fan of the show and pod, obviously. This proposal story isn't my story. I haven't found my person yet. But my parents' proposal story is a good one, so I'm going to share theirs. My dad is Costa Rican. My mom is Canadian, and they met because she moved to Costa Rica to be a teacher at an alternative school there.

They hadn't been dating for very long when my mom took my dad to Canada to meet her parents and see where she was from. And it was his first time ever traveling. Her parents, my grandparents, retired to Vancouver Island, and there are beaches for days. And so my dad planned a romantic sunset kayak for my mom, and he proposed to her while they were out. on the water. She said, no. She thought it was too soon into their relationship to get married. So she said, let's move in together.

Fast forward a couple of years. And my dad didn't propose again because he was nervous that she would say no. And then randomly one day they were crossing the street, she blurted out, let's get married. They were mid-crosswalk. But he said, yes. He always bugs her that he planned a super romantic moment and that she didn't. And she said that she was so overcome with love and that mundane moment she knew she was ready.

They actually found out a couple weeks later that they were pregnant with me. There's no photo of either proposal, ha-ha, but I've included a photo of them from that same trip to Canada when he did propose and a photo from their tiny backyard wedding. Oh, that is so cute. Wow. What a cute couple. I love a lot. I got to say, kudos to my man, because like hearing no is not the easiest thing, but she's like, you know what? We can't shack up.

Yeah. I think that would have been scarier for me. Move in. No, no, I just want to get married. I just want to get married. Wow. I love these stories. I love people's unique ways of finding...

Each one is different. Exactly. Finding each one is its own. Finding each other, ending up together. Yeah, this is beautiful. I've never met a Canada Rican. Canada Rican. That is a Canada Rican.

Canada Rican. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you so much, everyone, for sending in your story. and sharing them with us. And thanks for listening to another episode of the podcast. Yeah. We love... Get out there.

You tell a friend about the show. Like and subscribe. Like and subscribe. Support a sponsor, eh? We are edging closer and closer to the end of season five, which means we only have one season left. Yeah. Incredible.

It's crazy. It's crazy. It's... It's... There's the same sort of bitter sweetness that I felt in doing the show was the same thing that. Yeah, knowing that it's coming to an end or whatnot is the same sort of bitter sweetness that I feel now. I try to withhold it until it's like, when we get to like 618, it'll probably be like, oh, boy, what's what are we going to do here? Yeah.

Because it's. Well, then it'll be over. Then it'll be over for real, for real. But I try to have this attitude of everything in its season. We still don't know if we will extend. We're not sure. And we're listening for ideas and thoughts. Yeah, give us ideas, friends.

If you wanted to end with the show, let us know. If you wanted to keep going and turn into something else, just start us. No. Please, please. You guys are done. You're done. You're done talking. You're done talking.

You can tell us that too. I'll take, I want to hear all of it. I want to hear all of it. Except your takes on Lost. People were pissed. They were pissed. You. Yeah, yeah, it does.

And you. Hey, I love Lost. I'm entitled to my opinion. You are completely and totally entitled to your opinion. Christopher, will you look at the camera? Will you tell them the name of the show, please? That was us. He can't just do it with a straightforward.

No, it's always lame. That was us. Do it holding in a yawn. Yeah, do it holding it a yawn. That was us. That Was Us is filmed at Rabbit Grin Studios and produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith.

Da da da da da-da-da-dum. That was... us.