The luckiest photon in the universe was born a thousand light-years from Earth. After a million years of struggling with its tiny little brothers and sisters, it made its way to the surface of its mother star and shot away into interstellar space at the speed of light.

A thousand years later, the lucky photon passed the outer limits of our star system. Minutes after that, it bounced off a solid mass of crystallized carbon, which happened to be mounted on a platinum stud through the lobe of a human ear.

A split nanosecond later, the luckiest photon in the universe hit me smack in the eye.

And that, my dear, is how I met your mother.