Waves We Make

Haden Snjougla has spent years maintaining the appearance of a successful life – a popular radio host with a polished public persona – but beneath that smooth surface he feels empty. He drifts through days on autopilot, estranged from the genuine connections that once gave his life meaning. When a minor twist of fate – an empty fortune cookie at breakfast – coincides with a near accident on his morning commute, it pierces the numbness of his routine. In that split second, Haden glimpses how fragile everything truly is and hears a quiet question rising in him: If this were the end, what would I regret most?

Stirred awake by this question, Haden makes a choice that surprises everyone, including himself. On air that day, instead of the usual easy commentary, he speaks from the heart – admitting uncertainty, voicing the doubts and yearnings he’s long kept private. The candid broadcast rattles the radio station and captivates listeners. More importantly, it sends a signal to those closest to him. His adult daughters, Reyna and Hilde, hear something real in their father’s voice for the first time in years. One by one, dormant lines of communication spring back to life. Haden finds himself leaving the comfort of his downtown apartment and returning to the lakeshore town he once called home, determined to repair the quiet distance between himself and the family he nearly lost.

Waves We Make follows Haden as he navigates the delicate, often messy process of reconnection and self-discovery. Over the course of a year marked by difficult conversations, heartfelt radio monologues, and even an unexpected winter storm that forces him and his daughters to truly rely on one another, Haden learns what it means to be present. In learning to listen – to his loved ones, to his own conscience, to the world’s gentle whispers – he begins to transform. This is a story about the ripples one act of honesty can send through a life. It’s about a man coming home to what matters, a family tentatively knitting itself back together, and the quiet revolution that happens when a heart, long closed, finally opens with love and humility.