Awkwardly meeting someone you owe a lot to...

Zoey, Charles, Marley, Alli

Last night Dani and I took a trip to downtown Baltimore to see We the Kings on their Summer Fest tour. I'm a huge We the Kings fan, I've loved their music since mid-2008, and been more obsessed recently since Charles Trippy joined the band.

For those of you who don't know Charles and his (now) wife, Alli started the CTFxC channel with the objective to consecutively vlog for one year. However, the channel and community itself has grown astronomically, with Charles and Alli now on the fifth year of vlogging. As a viewer, I've watched Charles and Alli get engaged and the eventual wedding. I've seen Charles turn into a rockstar by joining We the Kings, Alli graduate college, and unfortunately, Charles battle a health scare through which he remained positive.

The video I started watching at

I began watching CTFxC on day 650 when the video popped up in my recommendations on Youtube. Initially, I was a bit confused but caught onto the idea pretty quickly. I wasn't really aware of daily vloggers until I started watching CTFxC, and became instantly interested and invested in their story. Through watching their videos I got a look into two normal people's lives and watched them go through normal things, which to some may seem boring but actually became an escape.

From the moment I started watching their first video, I decided to take a step back and watch all their videos from Day one. This was during my senior year of high school, a time I struggled with the same depression and anxiety I've spoken briefly about before. High school sucks, and leaving it sucks even more. The future is scary, leaving home, becoming independent, all of it took a toll on me so I spent many a days watching CTFxC, attempting to escape my life, which in the end helped me a lot. I would sit and watch them live, plan their wedding, play with their dogs, attend events and it all helped me. I felt like I knew them, and in a way they became my best friends, which is quite weird since they have no idea who I am.

Adorable

During the second semester of my freshmen year of college I suffered horrible panic attacks that left me struggling with everything. I was put into an outpatient program where I learned how to deal with my panic attacks and began to accept that things will get better, but I needed to start becoming positive and realize things will be ok and I can control my panic attacks.

At the same time I was in the hospital, Charles was getting brain surgery. Finding out you have a brain tumor and that things won't be the same again is ten times more scary than college and the things I was struggling with, yet Charles was positive. He knew he was going to beat the brain slug, and the fear he obviously must've had didn't seem to show. Him and Alli carried themselves with so much optimism and sheer positivity that I had to take a step back. If this guy, who finds out he has a brain tumor can be this positive, why can't I?

From then on I vowed to be positive. If for nothing else, for Charles and Alli because in the face of one of the scariest things a person can be challenged by, they stuck their swords up and fought. So I needed to do that too.

Panic attacks still plague me and I struggle with depression and anxiety more than a normal person but I'm in a state of mind that things will get better for me. I will be okay, just like Charles was. And even when his seizures act up and he sits in front of the camera, looking so defeated, he says "things will be okay." That is one special person, and even though I don't know him personally, I am incredibly lucky to have him and Alli in my life. Without fail their videos will be there to pick me up when I've fallen down, and remind me to be happy and positive.

Last night at the We the Kings concert, I gave Charles a letter thanking him for everything but I wanted to share with the world why Charles and Alli are so special (and I wrote the letter half-asleep/upset).

Sick Travis, Danni, Charles,
me, Coley, Hunter, Danny

Anyway, I highly suggest checking CTFxC out. All you have to do is click that statement, and you'll be directed to Youtube.

I plan to write about my concert experience next time however, this post is purely dedicated to CTFxC.

I would like to add that it is quite weird seeing Charles in person as I'm used to just seeing him on my computer. It's quite trippy (no pun intended!!!).

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