I was living in NC when a friend asked if I wanted to be spontaneous and fly to CA to go to a music festival in a couple weeks. I just happened to have those days off from work, so I said yes, and am so thankful I did. On the second night of the festival, I wanted to split from the others to see a different artist, so they dropped me off with Ricky (who I had met once before) and his group. Almost immediately I noticed one of the guys was pretty cute. A little bit later, this handsome man introduced himself as Avery. We talked a little bit, but mostly just danced next to each other — he never left my side. I felt a crazy connection to this guy all night; I couldn't explain it.

Eventually, I mustered up the courage to ask for his Instagram handle, but he told me he didn't use social media. I felt a little let down because I wasn't quite sure I believed him, but then he offered his number instead. So I accepted it, thinking maybe he was just being nice. We eventually said our goodbyes and I flew home the next morning. I never texted Avery because we lived on opposite coasts and I shrugged it off as just one nice night. But a few days later I found out Avery had been asking about me and was trying to get my number. I was shocked, thinking there was no way Avery felt the same crazy connection I did. So I texted him that day, and, as they say, the rest is history.

I pretty quickly knew Avery was the one. After the first time he visited me in NC, I remember telling my friend that I was going to marry this man. We did long distance for a while but neither of us could handle it, so just 7 months after meeting, Avery left his whole life to be with me in NC. Just 3 months after that, we (and our 3 rescue pitties: Dobby, Dexter, & Benson) moved to Colorado and built our beautiful life together here. I will never get over the fact that such a perfect man came into my life in such a natural and beautiful way. I truly believe the stars aligned for us.

The day Maria and I met is a day I'll never forget. Our meeting was by pure chance. I went to a music festival with one of my close friends Ricky. On the second night of that music festival, the plan was to meet up with his friends who were also attending. Halfway through that night is when the entire projection of my life shifted towards something that just felt meant to be and deeper than anything I'd ever felt before. We met up with his friend group and introduced myself to everybody, and seeing Maria for the first time and seeing her eyes just struck a chord in me.

We were being really cordial and standing next to each other dancing for a bit and got to know that she lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. I figured I'd probably never see her again after tonight. But at the end of the night she caught me by surprise and asked me for my contact info. It was a hard sell at first, letting her know I didn't have an Instagram, so she made do with a phone number. A few days had passed and she reached out to me and we texted nonstop. And still this really deep feeling and connection to her felt real; I thought it would fade away after a couple of days.

A couple months pass by and I fly out to NC for the first time to see her, and that's when we made it official. After doing long distance for a while, I dropped everything and moved out to her. The plan all along was to move somewhere new together, and we ended up in Denver, Colorado of all places. After moving into our new home, everything felt like it had fallen into place. I was 10000% sure this was the road my life was meant to go down and I found the person who I want to be right next to for the rest of my life. And now here we are, almost 2 1/2 years later, in a place I never thought I'd be, feeling like the luckiest man on the planet.