This project started as notes on my phone. Little observations I typed out after finding out that my wife was pregnant with our first child. Some were written in the middle of the night, some on walks, and others after touring infant daycares.

Then I signed up for a four-week virtual class through Second City comedy school called Writing Humorous Personal Essays. As a performing artist, I had never considered writing essays, but I realized my favorite part of performing solo work had become the writing itself. So I decided to give this new medium a try.

Our first assignment was to write a personal essay about an event that had impacted our lives. The first essay in this collection, "Keep Wearing the Mask," was the first thing I wrote. I was instantly hooked.

As the class went on, it became clear that I was writing about more than funny stories. I was writing about embracing this new chapter of my life. A transition.

I thought I would finish this project before the baby arrived.

But God had other plans.