Like Ted Mosby from "How I Met Your Mother," the story starts well before May 7th, 2022, when Chandler and I first met at the "I Heart Country Music Festival" in Austin, TX. First, you need to understand how I ended up at this concert.

Many of you may know I was never into country music; Duffy and Carolyn raised me to appreciate and love classic rock. However, my appreciation for country music began during my post-college graduation backpacking trip in the summer of 2020. During this trip, myself and two of my best friends, Ricky and John Luna, drove in a 2003 Yukon XL from San Diego, CA to Glacier Park National Park in Montana. Due to the year and make of the model of the Yukon, we could only listen to the radio. Call me cheap or old school, I have never used music streaming platforms and have always used the radio or the free Pandora subscription. But once me, Ricky, and John drove through Las Vegas, NV, the only radio stations that were picked up on FM were country stations. This is where I learned to love country music.

Now back to April 2022, I was driving home from work while listening to my favorite radio station, the Bobby Bones Show, when an announcement was made for the "I Heart Country Music Festival" in a couple of of weeks. I had recently returned from Fort Irwin, CA and I knew Joey "Ballgame" was returning soon too, so I suggested we go to the festival along with a few others I worked with in my unit. Unlike the famous song by the Buggles, I will never let radio die!

My friends and I arrived at the concert hours before the venue opened where some of the performers were performing outside. If you have ever seen Joe and I drink together, you know we do not take each other seriously. Mixing beer and liquor, over a month of sobriety due to a military training exercise and the first 100 degree day of the year, yeah we felt good. Between acts the host, Bobby Bones, was handing out floor seats to the loudest and most passionate fans. Joe and I felt the need to win. I told joe to hop on my shoulders, so Bobby Bones could easily spot us. Joe hopped up and flamboyantly began to flail his arms as I bullied my way as close to the stage to grab Mr. Bones attention. It worked. He laughed and cracked a joke to the crowd about Joe being on my shoulders. The tickets were ours, we were going to see Carrie in the front row. We were going to see "Sunday Night" in person up close. Joe did the unthinkable. He gifted the tickets to a mom and son. After, Joe gave the seats away. I looked at him and said in joking manner, "What if the future Mrs. Daugherty was down there, what if it was Carrie?" We laughed. Little did I know, Joe had turned one of the greatest blunders into life's greatest gift.

After what we all thought was Joe's big mistake, we all laughed, grabbed a beer, because "there ain't nothing a beer can't fix," and walked to our seats. We were there a bit early and decided to grab some seats in our row, but not our actual seats. We were in the rafters, the last row because that's what 24 year-olds can afford. This is where I met Chandler.

The concert is about to begin, and I see an absolutely gorgeous cowgirl in a tan blazer and a salmon or pink (I can say this I'm colorblind) shirt with her cowgirl boots. She walks right past me, and to make things more difficult my friend, Kenzie, is sitting in between us. I can't remember who started the conversation first but we began to make small talk. I believe she initiated the conversation. Quickly, I was starstruck by how well put together and amazing this beautiful women is. We eventually found out we have a mutual friend who Chandler had grown up with, and I went to college with. Eventually, I asked my friend Kenzie to switch seats, so I could get to know Chandler a little better. I felt things were going great, until Chandler forgot my name. I thought, maybe she was "too drunk to taste this chicken." Thankfully, that was not the case. We continued to chat before Chandler made a bold gesture. She said "hey fake cowboy," because she realized my cowboy getup was only a ruse since I'm from the California Coast, "are you going to ask for my number or what?" A little thrown off since the concert was not over yet and I didn't know she was leaving, I told her I was planning on it. Nevertheless, I took down her number and reached out to her the next day.

And from there, Chandler has stood by my side as I have been overseas for 7–8 months in Poland and Latvia and 13 months in Türkiye for my bachelor year. I could not be more blessed to have been able to travel the world and begin the next chapter of my life with Mary Chandler.

In short, I am grateful for all the things that did and did not happen. Because something as simple as not listening to the radio I would have never been at the concert. Or something as grand as Joe offering the floor seats to someone else drastically changed the course of my life. No floor seats are ever worth not being with Chandler. I love you babe, and I hope you all enjoyed my story of how we met.