This is one of my all-time favorite Garth songs—I often sing it in my head for inspiration, and I’ve considered it a kind of personal mantra. When the intro started playing during the first show in 16 years at the Target Center, I was so excited. You see, the last time I’d heard the song played live in my home town was in 1998. I’d lost my Grandpa earlier in the year, graduated from High School, and was trying to find my place in life. Back then, I had tickets in section 206, in the last row, as far away from the stage as you can get.
But Thursday night, I was about 10 rows behind the stage. The lights were dim, it was just Garth on stage with his guitar, and many people had their phone flashlights in the air. As Garth (and I) started singing “Trying to learn from what’s behind you,” I looked up, and in this dark arena, there was one spotlight, shining right on section 206, lighting up the exact row where I’d sat with my parents, Grandma, cousin and uncle all those years ago. Tears came into my eyes as I thought about the 18 year old girl that I was, all the dreams I had back then, the pain I was suffering from the loss of my dear Grandpa, and all the uncertainty I was feeling about my future.
I thought about how I was so excited to get those tickets. My Mom and I had waited in the grocery store parking lot for 8 hours to get two sets of tickets for our family and several of my friends. Getting those tickets was the first time I’d felt true happiness in a long time. The night of the show, we got to the stadium to meet up with my friends and it all changed—Garth’s people had come around and upgraded my friends’ seats—but they’d only gotten four tickets—so I would be sitting in 206, and my friends would be in the second row! I went from elated to devasted in seconds.
So on Thursday night, as we all sang “And never knowing what’s in store,” I thought about getting great seats to my favorite artist’s show, seeing that section where I’d sat before, thinking to myself how far I’ve come in the last 16 years (literally and figuratively) and how today’s woes too shall pass. It brought the song full circle.