Amy and I first met in 2014 at a Knanaya Convention in Chicago. She was from LA about to start college, I was from New York and just finished my freshman year of college. I noticed Amy immediately because her smile and energy was so infectious. Somehow our paths crossed at a pregame party my friends and I had put together in our hotel room. Fun fact: I was there when Amy had her first alcoholic drink. After the convention, I messaged her on Facebook with the smoothest line I could come up with at the time: “What’s up LA?” I honestly didn’t think she would respond, but she did...and even gave me her number. There was just one problem: I had absolutely no idea how to talk to girls. So naturally, I handed the phone to my cousin Joshen… who also had absolutely no idea how to talk to girls. Unsurprisingly, we got ghosted that very night. The next year, Amy and I saw each other again at a Knanaya Youth Convention in Tampa. This time we ended up in the same small group and actually got to know each other better. We talked a lot during the event, briefly salsa danced together (before I got tired of waiting for her when she went to the bathroom), and kept texting afterwards. Then, I got ghosted again. At that point, I figured maybe we just weren’t meant to be. So over the years, whenever we crossed paths at different Kna events or weddings, I kept things friendly and never thought too much about it. Fast forward to February 2023 Knanaya Meet and Greet event in Nashville. Before the event, my best man Jobin came over to my house and we were talking about who was going to the event. When he mentioned Amy would be there, he told me I should talk to her again. I shut it down immediately...“Nah, it didn’t work out before." When I finally saw her in Nashville, I played it cool. Just a simple hello. But on the last night of the trip, Jobin called me with a speech I’ll never forget. He said, “Lebron James came back from being down 3–1 and still won the championship. There’s no reason you can’t talk to Amy.” That was apparently all the motivation I needed. That night, Amy came up to me and I invited her to another pregame at my suite, and for the first time, we really talked...all night long. After nearly a decade of bad timing and missed chances, it suddenly felt like we were finally meeting at the right moment in our lives. After the event, instead of just texting her, I actually called and FaceTimed her. I booked a flight to visit her in San Francisco a few weeks later. This time, neither of us disappeared and the rest is history.