|| AMBER || Having made a major health/life change in March of 2017, I joined a Facebook community of people who were living the NSNG (no sugars, no grains) lifestyle. It was a big group of (at the time) around 18,000 people. There were a few spin-off groups; NSNG Ladies, a recipe group, a work out group, and a singles group. I had ZERO intention of meeting anyone through it and joined solely because I could. It was a small group of around 150 people and I quickly became buddies with many people on there, including the main admin, Trey. One day, I was leaving work and posted in the group a picture from Harlem looking down 5th Ave to see the Empire State Building in the distance and said, "Here's my current POV, what's yours?" Many people commented pictures of what they were doing, and so did Trey. He posted a picture of a recording studio, so I asked if it was his or if he was somewhere and how do we get to listen. He sent me a messenger request and called me shortly thereafter. We started talking every day. || TREY || I joined the group because I enjoy talking to people on Facebook and helping them on their NSNG journey. I was working all over the nation and loved meeting people in person for NSNG dinner. I was working occasionally in the NYC area and was hoping to one day meet Amber in person.

|| AMBER || Sometime in the first week of talking, Trey text me about his favorite band, Tedeschi Trucks. I asked what song I should listen to and he said that all of them are great. I looked it up and saw one song called, "Midnight in Harlem," since I was sitting IN Harlem, it seemed like that was the right choice. As soon as I hit play I loved it! I went online and looked to see if they had any concerts in NYC coming up as I had set some money aside for a concert or comedy show for my birthday. I saw they were going to be in NYC on October 13, so I bought two tickets. I was planning to bring my friend, Leah and told Trey that I had purchased tickets for me and a friend and he said, "thanks for calling me your friend." So I said that if he came to NYC, he could have on of the tickets (I told Leah there was a 1-3% chance this guy I was talking to would come, but not to worry, he wouldn't). So two weeks later, Trey called and told me he decided he had to come, not only did he want to see his favorite band, but he had to meet me. || TREY || I thought it was a sign that only after 3 hours of listening to a band that she bought tickets to the premier venue to see them live. I was very excited to see Tedeschi Trucks Band but even more to see and meet Amber. I came that weekend fully accepting that this may be the only weekend I have there. I knew that I had to come there to enjoy a show but most importantly to see what a happy Christian lifestyle looks like and become one myself.

|| AMBER || When I picked Trey up from the airport on October 13, 2017, I was BEYOND nervous. Here was this guy that I had grown to really like and know, but at the same time he was a perfect stranger. He walked over to where I was in the parking lot with a huge smile on his face. When we walked up to each other he said, "Okay, I'm going to break the ice," and he dropped his bags and held his arms open wide, "give me a hug!" So I (in the world's most AWKWARD way) walked to him, elbows tucked at my sides and gave him the most uncomfortable hug in the history of hugs with my t-rex arm hardly reaching him. Most of the afternoon is a blur of nerves. We finally got ready for the concert and headed to the Beacon Theatre. I kept my hands stuffed in my coat pockets, worried he would try and hold my hand (not sure why I was worried about that haha!). Once we were seated, I was stiff as can be, he reached over and said, "Amber, I'm going to hold your hand now." He took my hand, and all the pressure just disappeared. It was so sweet and felt so natural. The rest of the concert and weekend was amazing. || TREY || I still love the 🦖 hug!

|| AMBER || At the end of the weekend, it was time to say goodbye. It was awful. We definitely connected while he was in NYC. The day before he left he said he felt like we needed to fast all communication from each other for a week. It was a lot of emotions and a bit of a whirlwind and we needed some perspective and clarity. It. Was. Awful. At first I attributed it to the fact that we talked daily, so it was just hard because our routine wasn't there, but by day five, I woke up crying. My heart hurt so bad and I knew that I had true feelings for him. I prayed a lot that week, just asking for clarity and to not let my heart just make crazy choices. I talked to my parents a lot as well, seeking their sound counsel. I kept a journal to write what all I was processing and kept coming back to the conclusion that this was way more than a little crush. Monday morning at 4:30am my phone rang, I was already up, and answered it by the second ring. "I missed you so much," he said. I told him how much I missed him and we shared what we had learned and discovered over the past week... that we wanted to make it official. He said, in his little southern slang, "Amber, are you interested in anyone else?" To which I replied that I was not. "Do you want to look for anyone else?" Again, no. "Well then, how 'bout you be my girl?" And I melted. || TREY || I was so lonely not talking to Amber during our communication fast. We were talking an average of 3.5 hours a day with one day talking a complete 8 hours straight. It felt like forever! We cheated a little bit to still communicate to one another by using Aunt Annie to check in on how the other person was feeling and doing. The lesson learned is that we communicate with each other very well and have a wonderful foundation in knowing and caring deeply about one another.

|| AMBER || Now that he was back in Missouri, it was basically tortuous. We had plans to spend Christmas together (I was going to MO for a couple days to meet his family, then we'd fly to Seattle so he could meet my family) and one small little hello as he drove through for a job in Boston. The plan was that he would drive all Sunday night, sleep in a hotel parking lot, wake up early and get to New Jersey so I could spend my day off (Mondays) with him before he finished the last leg of his trip. I had talked to my mom Friday and she was sounding well. She told me she had told the ICU nurses to get her healed up quickly because her daughter was bringing a guy home and she needed to decorate the place. Sunday she was scheduled for a surgery and when I talked to her she sounded horrible. I told Trey that I was really worried and afraid that she wouldn't live through the surgery. He told me that she was tough and would make it, he just knew it.. My dad messaged when she was out of the surgery that she didn't just make it, but had done exceptionally well! I was so relieved. But as you know, my phone rang at 3:57am Monday morning, it was my dad, mom had passed. I called Trey to tell him that there was a change of plans, I needed to fly home. || TREY || I felt horrible hearing the news about Debi passing. I instantly started driving from Pennsylvania to get to Amber and be as supportive as I could. It was nice that I got to see her and drive her to the airport to be with her family.

|| AMBER || He was in New Jersey and I was going to be flying out of Newark, NJ that evening. Some friends dropped me off with him. He was such a rock for me. I cried (and snotted, a lot) all over his shoulder. He made me laugh. I watched him change a tire on his truck. It was so surreal. It was this weird mixture of sadness for what I had just lost and joy and excitement for what the future held. He was kind, and gentle, so very understanding. He let me cry, he let me laugh. He drove me to the airport. Before I left I told him that I didn't expect him to try and come to Seattle for mum's service since he already had tickets for Christmas. I told him to wait until I got home to make any decisions so that I had more details about her service and if it was even a good idea for him to try to get there. When I landed I got a text saying he booked his tickets and he'd be there Friday morning; he knew I'd try and tell him not to worry about it. || TREY || I talked to Brittney and Chic and they both told me that I need to be there for the service. Brittney told me that I needed to come to see how much Debi meant to everyone in person to completely understand how amazing she is. Chic told me that I needed to come to see the Peri family dynamic to fully understand what made them as strong as they are. I was amazed at how well we came together during a tough time.

|| AMBER || Trey jumped right into the craziness that is the Peri's and everything the weekend of my mum's service held. He made friends, helped around the house, stayed out of the way, had tissues ready, and strong arms to hug me. He fit my family and my world so well, which is not an easy task by any means. It wasn't until a few months after Christmas that I knew that I knew, God had made Trey especially for me. He had transitioned to being self-employed and was working very long hours and I was being a little bratty and felt neglected. I tried to express that in a conversation one night and we talked about how he's working so hard to provide for us and his move to NYC, I knew I was being silly, but I just felt how I felt. We hung up unresolved and I laid in bed crying. After 15 minutes of talking to God and realizing just how petty and silly I was being, I called him back. I told him I would never sleep if we didn't resolve our conversation and he said, "Okay" in a reasonably annoyed tone. "Well, now I feel like you're frustrated with me," I said, to which he replied, "Yeah, Amber, that's because I AM frustrated with you." It put the biggest smile on my face and I knew he was the one for me. Most would just say everything was fine to appease or pacify and move on, but not Trey. He doesn't put up with my nonsense and is always, always honest. He doesn't back down or wimp out. He says what he means and means what he says. || TREY || Thanks Amber!

|| AMBER || The Friday before mum passed I was talking with her, as I mentioned she was sharing her excitement about finally meeting Trey (they'd only talked on the phone). At one point I said, "Mom, I think I might love him, that's crazy, right? Tell me I'm nuts." But she didn't, she said, "That's not crazy, that's really sweet. I have a good feeling about him. Do you think he loves you?" I told her I did think so, but he was waiting until we were together at Christmas to tell me. I shared a story from earlier in the week about how my headphones had broken. He told me to just buy new ones, but I refused because I was getting a new phone in 2 weeks and it would come with new ones. He said to just buy a cheap pair, but still I refused. So he said, "let me buy you a pair." And I continued on my refusal since I was a mere two weeks from new ones for no extra charge. Finally he said, "Amber, I just want to take care of you, let me take care of you." She thought that was sweet, even though I didn't let him buy the dang headphones. The special treat is that while the family was all sharing stories of our last conversations with mum, I brought that story up. As I told it something hit me. For the last few years she would say to me (all of the time), "I don't want to leave this earth until I know you're taken care of." I honestly couldn't tell you how many times she had said that to me. When I told her, I didn't think about what I was saying, and I really don't know that she even recognized the depth of what I had unintentionally told her, I was simply telling her what had taken place. What a special treat to have been able to tell my mom, just days before she went to be with the Lord, that the very thing she had been praying for for so long had finally arrived.