Last week, Nashville hosted CMA Fest (better known as Fan Fair). Thousands of country music fans descended upon the city to see their favorite artists, meet them in person, and experience Music City.

I worked every day of the festival, and by the end of it I was just screaming, “GO HOME TOURISTS! GO HOME!”

But when I got home after the last night… feet aching, head aching, feeling exhausted… it hit me. I was one of those fans once, attending Fan Fair, hoping to meet my favorite artist. Taking in all the music. Heck, I left swearing I’d someday live in Nashville. (Had no idea I’d be married to a musician and that a lot of the musicians I saw on those stages that year would later be dear, dear personal friends.)

It is thanks to those fans that my husband has his job. It is thanks to those fans that I can live this crazy, crazy roller coaster life that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

We miss our spouses when they are on the road. Its easy to sometimes feel the pang of jealousy when we see pictures of fans with our spouses. By the end of a long run, we want to tell the fans, “Give me back my man! I miss him!” But at the end of the day… we really need to thank them ourselves.