Hi, I'm Monica Packer from About Progress and this is Remember When, a monthly episode to honor about progress turning 10 years old this coming November.

Each month leading up to that milestone, I am opening a time capsule of a bygone year, gradually working up to our

current one, to look back at what was happening in the world, in my life, and in this podcast,

all with the goal to celebrate and learn from this work we've created together.

The year is 2018.

Remember the Thai Cave Rescue of all 12 members of a youth soccer team and their coach.

Remember when there was the royal wedding between Prince Harry and Megan Markle.

Remember the Me Too movement and how it gained global momentum. Remember when Saudi Arabia lifted its driving ban on women.

Remember when Aretha Franklin, Anthony Bourdain, and Kate Spade all passed away.

Remember when the Winter Olympics were held in South Korea. There were devastating fires in California,

and SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon Heavy rocket.

2018 was the second full year of the podcast. And that was a big year for me personally. So let's

start with Behind the Mic. First, I had a baby in

February of that year and not just any baby, a baby who ended up having to have emergency

surgery and then later some complications and struggled for a lot that year to thrive

thanks to his issues.

He was born with twisted boughs, if you haven't heard that story before.

We were in the middle of a kitchen renovation when we had him.

I remember having him and coming home from the hospital and Brad or my mom watching the baby

so then I could go paint the cabinets that I had in the garage. And it wasn't until June that

year that the kitchen was finally finished. And my oldest two kids were really struggling. I can look

back and remember some of those moments. It was a really hectic time. But what I remember is feeling

...