I met Valerie back in April 27, 2007, during Fiesta at Night in Old San Antonio. A buddy of mine dragged me out of the house probably because he knew I needed a life, and we all met up at his place to roll out together. That’s when I saw Valerie for the first time, and let me tell you, she did “not” look like someone who’d eventually sign up for a lifetime of my nonsense.

She hits me with, “Where are you from?” I said, “Comfort, Texas.” She looked at me like I just told her I lived on the moon. “Oh really?” she said. “Yep,” I told her, “small town, big heart... and even bigger mosquitoes.”

Then she drops a bomb: “I actually know someone from Comfort.” Now I’m thinking, either she’s psychic or full of shit. I ask, “Who do you know?” She goes, “Hoyt Seidensticker.” I nearly spit out my drink. “No freakin’ way! That’s my old drinking buddy!” I said. She laughed and told me they used to work together at San Antonio Water System. At that point, I was like, ‘Alright, this woman might be legit.’

I said, “Man, what a small world. Hoyt and I used to drive up to College Station just to party like rockstars… minus the fame, money, or talent.”

Later that night, at La Villita, music in the air, people doing questionable dance moves, and margaritas flowing like a busted fire hydrant I looked at Valerie and thought, you know what? This is either going to be the best decision of my life… or end with a restraining order.’ So, when I went for it I kissed her.

Shockingly, she didn’t slap me. I don’t know if it was the Fiesta magic or the tequila patron, but somehow this Comfort boy lucked into something incredible.

The rest? A wild, beautiful mess. Chaos, laughter, love, and one too many inside jokes we still can’t explain, not sure if it was all a dream or if I just blacked out from too many tequila Patron shots. Either way, I woke up lucky… with a massive hangover!