S1 E6: My Chest Goes Cold

[0] Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to something was wrong early and ad -free right now.

[1] Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.

[2] I'm Dan Tversky.

[3] In 2011, something strange began to happen at a high school in upstate New York.

[4] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast.

[5] What's the answer?

[6] And what do you do if they tell you it's all in your head?

[7] Hysterical.

[8] A new podcast from Wondry and Pineapple Street Studios.

[9] Binge all episodes of hysterical early and ad -free on Wondery Plus.

[10] This podcast is intended for mature audiences and could be triggering to some.

[11] Please use discretion when listening.

[12] The majority of audio from this episode is from the first interview I conducted with Sarah in August of 2018, also the first day we met.

[13] It was about 10 weeks after Sarah was supposed to be married.

[14] This was the first time Alyssa or I had heard the full story.

[15] And though I have put many, many hours into cleaning this recording up for the podcast, you may hear more size, chair moving, interrupting, and pacing than usual.

[16] But it's real life, and it's insane, and here we go.

[17] I'm Tiffany Reese, and this is, something was wrong.

[18] have me questioning my own real experiences.

[19] And it really, really pulls the rug out from under your identity because it causes you to question your entire childhood, stuff that I held as dear that I had seen as physical proof.

[20] Now I'm thinking, was my life a lie?

[21] I honestly, I mean, it really, really wrecked me. And it can start to kind of turn you into a shell of a person because your past really does build you into who you are.

[22] So she, this, you know, my boss's wife was sitting me down and saying, I know you.

[23] I know what makes you you and I know why people love you.

[24] And I am seeing that those are the things that are changing.

[25] That is not something that should change in a healthy relationship.

[26] It should grow.

[27] It should flourish.

[28] It should be stronger.

[29] You should be given space to develop and this is opposite of that.

[30] And yeah, praise hands.

[31] And I mean, I was terrified.

[32] I was at because I thought, okay.

[33] Hey, and never did I think maybe this shouldn't happen.

[34] I just thought we have a long road of convincing to go because I was convinced.

[35] You're not, I mean, and you're getting married in a week.

[36] And I kept thinking, why are you doing this to me?

[37] Why is this my life?

[38] I've worked so hard and I have asked over and over, please tell me, please tell me. And so you're telling me eight days before my wedding.

[39] Sorry, you lost your chance.

[40] I'm convinced.

[41] You all will be convinced over time.

[42] So I was so convinced that I was doing the right thing that I was willing to wait and let everybody else see the light later because keep in mind I had Kimmy in the back my mind saying I married somebody my parents did not approve of and they bought in after a year later so you're saying she would say like don't worry even if people yeah she would literally say you're going to get this you might get this if you get this reaction you know stick through it yeah kind of thing and she we would get in arguments where Kimmy would get very passionate in saying things like well I mean you happen to live a lifestyle where you make decisions to please the community and I just don't happen to live under that, you know, and I'd be like, oh, you know, obviously reading into that and going, I'm a people pleaser and she's not, you know, she does what she wants and I don't.

[43] So in my mind, I'm thinking this is time to choose what I want because she would say things like, well, do you do everything your parents want you to do?

[44] I mean, you are 30 years old.

[45] So this is not a decision between you and your family.

[46] And I'm like, well, he's not my husband yet.

[47] And I would tell that to my mom and my mom would say, he's not your husband yet and I but for some reason the words would go in one ear and out the other because Kimmy is telling me your family is very codependent they all live within a 50 mile radius of each other they all you know make decisions based on what everybody else wants nobody branches out so you're trying to do that naturally you're going to get friction so now we've got people wondering and asking and I'm already ready to fight it so now things are falling apart and so I'm stealing myself even more going, okay, I'm bracing for impact.

[48] Here it is.

[49] Time to be strong and stick to my guns.

[50] Friday, I just kind of shud it out of my brain.

[51] I went through work and then that night I got on my face on the ground in my room and I was just like, okay, God, you're going to have to fix this.

[52] You're going to have to convince people.

[53] You're going to have to work this out.

[54] I don't know which way this is going to go, but I'm just going to trust you.

[55] So Saturday morning, I'm supposed to head down to my parents' house for my bachelor's party.

[56] I stop at our house first where Of course, my fiancé has a huge breakfast ready for me. And there's worship music on in the background and everything.

[57] And there's this song, Reckless Love.

[58] And it's talking about how God, you know, leaves the 99 to rescue.

[59] And there's something kind of in like my heart that sort of pulled toward that.

[60] I'd never heard it before.

[61] And it was like, listen to this.

[62] Listen to this.

[63] And I went, hey, babe, can you turn that up?

[64] And he goes, eh, they kind of go off the rails in this album.

[65] But sure, you know, and cranks it up.

[66] Oh, my God.

[67] So you put it on, bitch.

[68] So we have this great breakfast.

[69] and I just feel this, like, we have a good conversation.

[70] Everything's fine.

[71] In fact, Friday, the night before had not been a good night between him and me. Now that I think about it, tensions had been high, and I was just like, what the heck?

[72] And I just kind of, but he knew from me that I was good.

[73] I was not questioning things.

[74] Right.

[75] And I think maybe I told Kimmy what was going on.

[76] So Saturday morning, after Friday night was a very tense night, we went, like, he was at our new house.

[77] I was at my place.

[78] We both went to bed like it was weird.

[79] Saturday morning, he wakes me up with a FaceTime call from bed, which he never does.

[80] And he's super silly.

[81] And I actually remember thinking, what is this, Jekyllyn Hyde?

[82] Like, this is not, you know, not that I'm going to remain mad after last night, but this is not consistent with where we were last night.

[83] This is a very different person.

[84] So I thought maybe he's just really trying to smooth things over and have fun.

[85] Like, great, I'll come over, you know, we'll have fun sort of thing.

[86] Because we just deserve to have fun before our wedding.

[87] So we like have breakfast and everything.

[88] and I'm just like, love you, you know, see you later.

[89] And on the road down to Dixon, I am blasting this new song I've just discovered called Reckless Love and I'm praying.

[90] And I just have this huge sense of everything's going to be fine.

[91] Oh my gosh, I'm going to know.

[92] And I had this gut sense that tomorrow, which was a Sunday, tomorrow will be pivotal.

[93] I kept just like really, really feeling that in my gut.

[94] And I thought, is that you, God, is that like, you know, you telling me this.

[95] So I was just like, great.

[96] I took that to mean tomorrow, everything's going to be good.

[97] So go to my Bachelorette party.

[98] And I know that some of my close friends, there, know some of the drama, know that, you know, my mom has been questioning things because we're all super close.

[99] So I'm just like, look, party's on, everybody.

[100] I mean, I wasn't planning on canceling anything, but we had decided there's either two things going to happen.

[101] Sarah was going to continue with the wedding, and the bachelor's party was going to be a full -on bachelorette party, or Sarah was going to cancel the wedding, and we are going to party anyway, and we're going to be there to support her, and we're going to have so much wine and Sarah walked in the door like she was ready for a bachelor party what are we doing today's going to be great and it was just like wait wait wait what this is so weird it was like it was like yesterday hadn't even happened so and whenever Sarah was on earshot all of us girls would be like what is going on it was the weirdest freaking thing ever night party it was supposed to be i had games planned we were going to do gifts and then desserts but we came back from i think we did an escape room and everybody went home except for three girls and it was the awkwardest thing in the world.

[102] They all laughed and the three girls stayed and Sarah opened up her presence and it was like sex, not sex toys but like sex related gifts and I'm sitting there like oh my gosh this has got to be so hard for my mom to watch not because it's about sex but because it's about her daughter that she's hoping the wedding is called off and she's watching her open gifts that have to do with her fiancee that mom thinks as a wolf and we just wanted our friends to go home.

[103] They went home, and mom and dad said, I think dad, or she was going to leave.

[104] Sarah was going to leave.

[105] She was grabbing her stuff and she was leaving.

[106] And I think it was dad said, I want to talk to you.

[107] And she was like, well, well, is it going to take a while?

[108] I've got to get home to do some stuff.

[109] And I said, you planned for a whole party tonight.

[110] What do you mean you have to go home and do stuff?

[111] This ended way earlier than you had expected it to.

[112] She's like, yeah, well, but I mean, now that it did.

[113] end early, I think she said something like, now that I did end early, you know, there's stuff I can get done.

[114] So, you know, is this talk going to be long?

[115] And I think that's response was something to the effect of it doesn't matter.

[116] It's going to take however long it's going to take.

[117] We want to talk to you.

[118] And in that moment, I thought, I'm getting out.

[119] I don't need to be here.

[120] This is going to get intense.

[121] I can feel it.

[122] Everybody finally goes and my parents sit me down in the backyard.

[123] And that's when my mom kind of starts in with this weird stuff of like, we don't, like, Like something's, you know, wrong.

[124] We just don't feel right.

[125] And what do you have to say about this and this?

[126] And I'm just like, are we going around this mountain again?

[127] Seriously?

[128] Like eight days out, would you let me, would you just give me a break?

[129] And it kind of gets a little more into it, a little more into it.

[130] And I'm going, okay, they haven't said what they want to say yet.

[131] And that's when you could tell, like, my mom would rather have died than said the next word.

[132] She said, we are actually formally asking you to postpone your wedding.

[133] I honestly, when we talk to her and said, we need to ask you to just put this off.

[134] not stop it.

[135] It's too quick.

[136] Just put it off.

[137] I, at the time we did that, didn't feel it was right.

[138] Because I thought we've allowed her to go too far.

[139] Not allowed her.

[140] We couldn't stop her anyway if she was going to go forward.

[141] But we've gone this far before we said, put it off.

[142] And I didn't feel right at the time we did it.

[143] And it didn't know near what we learned over the next few days after we did that.

[144] But what we learned was like, oh, my gosh, I was ready to just go with this.

[145] And if she hadn't said, Rose hadn't said, said, we need to ask her to put it off, I would have just gone with it.

[146] It's scary.

[147] And she'd have probably gotten married and who knows, you know, what would have happened up to that.

[148] I'm Dan Tversky.

[149] In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York.

[150] I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad.

[151] I'm like, stop fucking around.

[152] She's like, I can't.

[153] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms and spreading fast.

[154] It's like doubling and tripling and it's all these girls.

[155] With a diagnosis, the state.

[156] tried to keep on the down low.

[157] Everybody thought I was holding something back.

[158] Well, you were holding something back.

[159] Intentionally.

[160] Yeah, well, yeah.

[161] No, it's hysteria.

[162] It's all in your head.

[163] It's not physical.

[164] Oh, my gosh, you're exaggerating.

[165] Is this the largest mass hysteria since the Witches of Salem?

[166] Or is it something else entirely?

[167] Something's wrong here.

[168] Something's not right.

[169] Leroy was the new date line and everyone was trying to solve the murder.

[170] A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, hysterical.

[171] Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[172] You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus.

[173] She struck him with her motor vehicle.

[174] She had been under the influence and she left him there.

[175] In January 2022, local woman Karen Reed was implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O 'Keefe.

[176] It was alleged that after an innocent night out for drinks with friends, Karen and John got into a lover's quarrel en route to the next location.

[177] What happens next?

[178] Depends on who you ask.

[179] Was it a crime of passion?

[180] If you believe the prosecution, it's because the evidence was so compelling.

[181] This was clearly an intentional act.

[182] And his cause of death was blunt force trauma with hypothermia.

[183] Or a corrupt police cover -up.

[184] If you believe the defense theory, however, this was all a cover -up to prevent one of their own from going down.

[185] Everyone had an opinion.

[186] And after the 10 -week trial, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision.

[187] To end in a mistrial, it's just a confirmation of just how complicated this case is.

[188] Law and crime presents the most in -depth analysis to date of the sensational case in Karen.

[189] You can listen to Karen exclusively with Wondery Plus.

[190] Join Wondery Plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

[191] Hear it from my dad.

[192] never ever asked, you know, obviously like anything like this.

[193] And it was different coming from my dad.

[194] I could see the fear.

[195] I could see the concern.

[196] My dad is not easily rattled by anything.

[197] If anything, he's kind of disengaged from things.

[198] My mom is a little overengaged.

[199] Typical.

[200] So for my dad to feel this strongly, and my, when I kind of sat there stunned, my dad said, look, I need more time.

[201] I want him to come on the men hunt, the men's hunting trips.

[202] I want him to go fishing with us.

[203] I want him to integrate himself into the family so that we can see what you see.

[204] Obviously, you know, there's something we're missing, but if this is meant to be, if this is right, if you two are good for each other, you will be glad you waited.

[205] You'll be glad you honored us.

[206] We just, we know that it's hard to look past, you know, what's going on right now.

[207] And this is the worst thing to ever have to ask somebody, but we don't know what else to do.

[208] And we haven't been sleeping for days.

[209] We haven't been eating.

[210] And I just kept saying, how can you do this to me?

[211] Like, what the hell?

[212] Can you tell me what led up to this and why now?

[213] And my mom said, honestly, I guess a week or two beforehand, I mean, really, really shortly beforehand, all these people like my parents, my sister, different people had felt weird things, but nobody wanted to be the one to rock the boat because everybody else seemed, you know, supportive.

[214] So my mom said something to my sister.

[215] And out of nowhere, my sister felt like only goes, oh, no, it makes me feel weird too, some random thing.

[216] My mom goes, wait a second.

[217] And my mom said, well, wait, if you feel that way, I wonder how your dad feels.

[218] And so then my parents compared notes.

[219] And then they started to really panic and go, oh no, none of us, you know, feel right.

[220] Something's wrong, but we don't know what it is.

[221] The version of your fiancé that we have had ever since the misunderstanding, ever since that night where they took me to dinner and not him, he had not behaved like he had before.

[222] So pre that night, he would reach out to my parents often.

[223] He would text my mom.

[224] I've never had a guy do this where he'd be like, you know, hey, mama so -and -so, I've been praying for you.

[225] I just want you to know you're an excellent parent.

[226] you're doing great and I am reaping the benefits of your hard work like your daughter is amazing.

[227] My mom would just weep.

[228] He would say, how can I serve her better?

[229] What are her like wants and desires?

[230] How does she function?

[231] Where are her weaknesses?

[232] Like, how can I build her up?

[233] And you as your mother, like, know her better than no one else.

[234] And so my mom's just like, I'm ready to give my girl to this man. Well, ever since that dinner, what I didn't know is that he would never reach out.

[235] She felt weird, but she would text and be like, hey, miss you, love you.

[236] Like, can we get together sometime?

[237] Would never hear a word.

[238] And she just was like, I can't shake the feeling that the version of him that I'm getting now is different.

[239] I feel like he's running.

[240] And she kept looking at me like, I can't shake the feeling that he's running from us and he's hiding.

[241] And we've been reaching out.

[242] We've gone the extra mile.

[243] And something's different.

[244] So apparently we need more time to make this right.

[245] And I kept going, what about this?

[246] What about this?

[247] What about this?

[248] But time kept moving on and everything kept going so fast.

[249] My mom wanted to support me. She wanted to be happy for me. but we have had other friends that their parents have stayed silent and come to find out their child ended up in a very abusive relationship.

[250] And so we always said, don't let that happen.

[251] You know, so my mom was like, what do I do?

[252] When do I say something?

[253] So finally, that's why my mom was so desperate to take me to lunch one day because she, but then realized, okay, I can't go to her.

[254] We tried that before she's all in.

[255] So that's when she went to my boss's wife to show her all of these things and my boss's wife went, oh, I had seen a couple of things, but I just threw them out because I figured since you guys approved that it was a one -off time that I got a weird feeling about him and, you know, but now that I'm seeing that my weird feelings add up to your weird feelings, this is something we need to pay attention to.

[256] And I thought, oh my gosh, I can completely see why you all think that, oh, this is like such a sucky situation.

[257] So I'm telling Kimmy all of this and I said, Kimmy, can you talk to my parents?

[258] I mean, that's how like desperate and innocent I was.

[259] I was like, will you please talk to my parents?

[260] Talk to my boss and his wife, you know.

[261] Scammers are best known for living the high life until they're forced to trade it all in for handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit once they're finally caught.

[262] I'm Sachi Cole.

[263] And I'm Sarah Haggy.

[264] And we're the host of scam influencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of some of the most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims and what's left once the facade falls away.

[265] We've covered stories.

[266] like a Shark Tank certified entrepreneur who left the show with an investment, but soon faced mounting bills, an active lawsuit followed by Larry King, and no real product to push.

[267] He then began to prey on vulnerable women instead, selling the idea of a future together while stealing from them behind their backs.

[268] To the infamous scams of Real Housewives stars like Teresa Judice, what should have proven to be a major downfall only seemed to solidify her place in the Real Housewives Hall of Fame.

[269] Follow scam influencers on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[270] You can listen to SCAMFluencers early and ad -free right now on Wondry Plus.

[271] He said he came in here from another state.

[272] Nobody really knows him.

[273] We don't know his friends.

[274] We have nobody to, we can only go by what he says.

[275] She met his family, so that helped.

[276] She met an aunt and an uncle, so that kind of helped his case because, of course, they adore him.

[277] So she's going to see that side of him from where he was raised and everything.

[278] But other than that, We met no other friends, nobody that he knew.

[279] So where were all these people?

[280] So a lot of things we had to just go with because of the speed of the whole thing, the pace of the whole thing, which is why we got to the point where we got, where we just, you just have to wait a while.

[281] It's your choice, but you need to know where we stand.

[282] We think it's all too fast.

[283] And who would have ever guessed that just by asking him to wait a while and him fighting that caused everything to blow up?

[284] When he asked her to postpone it, she, you know, kind of argued with him a little bit about that and then looked over at me like, are you on board with this?

[285] I just looked at her and I said, I'm just sick, Sarah.

[286] I said, I'm really scared for you.

[287] I'm scared for your future.

[288] There's no harm in waiting other than there's money loss.

[289] There's a little dignity maybe, but your family will understand.

[290] And we're talking the rest of your life.

[291] And if you have children with somebody and this gut feeling really means something, you're in it for life.

[292] Whether you stay married or you don't stay married, kids mean for life.

[293] And so then she thought, okay, mom's on board too.

[294] This isn't just dad asking me to do this.

[295] And so she was livid, understandably.

[296] She says, all I'm going by is you guys' gut.

[297] That's it.

[298] And, of course, she's devastated, and we're thinking, we better be right.

[299] And that's one of the last things she said before she went out the door is, you guys better be right.

[300] I left my parents' house telling them, I'm going to do this, you better be right.

[301] Because in the other half of my mind, I'm thinking, I can't have a wedding where I've waited this long to have everybody come and feel like it shouldn't be happening.

[302] I don't want my guests.

[303] You know, I don't want my own family to be there and feel sick over it.

[304] I went back to Sack and I went to our house and I walk in the door and he had all of these treats laid out for me. He'd spent a bunch of money on wine, like my favorite foods, back to the food thing, smoked salmon, chocolate.

[305] So I'm just dying inside when I come in and there's music playing.

[306] he's all of a sudden done all these fix -its around the house and then I walk into the house of course and the knife is even deeper when I hear the music I look around and I see everything and I'm just I'm literally like my reality is fracturing around me and he comes out and he's got tools in one hand and like something the other and he's like hi babe and he's got like this super excited puppy dog look on his face and he looks at my face and then everything goes still and he freezes and he goes what's going on and I'm like can we sit down and he tries to take me into a hug and everything and then we sit down he's like, what is it?

[307] And then I told him.

[308] And the air just went out of the room.

[309] What did you say?

[310] I said, I had a conversation with my parents.

[311] And I just kind of led him into it kind of like I was.

[312] And I was just like, babe, here are their concerns.

[313] And I said, I don't know what to do other than honor, you know, because I can't, please see my case.

[314] Like, look at where I'm at.

[315] This is the worst thing.

[316] I don't want this.

[317] I want you.

[318] But I don't see how we can move forward without fixing this.

[319] So I kind of came at it like, you and I are.

[320] in this together.

[321] You are not the problem.

[322] My parents are not the problem.

[323] We need clarification.

[324] And I love you so much.

[325] I want them to see the you.

[326] And I want our families to want to be at our wedding.

[327] Don't you kind of thing.

[328] Like be in this with me. You're trying, you're thinking there's going to be peace reached.

[329] Absolutely.

[330] I'm 100 % convinced.

[331] I'm just like, we've got to walk through some health first.

[332] And I've got Kimmy texting me saying it gets darkest right before the sun rises, this, you know, stupid cliche, stuff like that.

[333] Like, get through it, baby, I did.

[334] You can.

[335] Like, it's worth it.

[336] And so I'm like, we're going to do it, so it's going to keep getting darker.

[337] And he, once the reality hits him, he, like, he starts hyperventilion going, oh, my God, oh, my God, $8 ,000 honeymoon, non -refundable.

[338] Oh, my God, he's looking around.

[339] And I start, like.

[340] Is he saying this?

[341] He's saying this.

[342] And he's putting his face in his hands, and he's looking around like a man. Like, we're facing each other.

[343] I'm sitting on the couch and we're knee to knee.

[344] He's sitting on the autumn and facing me. I'm facing him.

[345] I'm holding my face in my hands, just looking straight down because I can't face my world right now.

[346] Yeah, I can't look at him.

[347] And I have never felt so, like, small and broken and just like, I would really, really rather die than be in my own body right now.

[348] And again, it's me asking this of him, and he's going, we have to call the family.

[349] And I'm thinking, I have done this to your family.

[350] I have done this to you.

[351] I've done this to everybody who's booked tickets.

[352] I've done this to, you know, I mean, thousands of dollars, the donations, the gifts, the registry gifts that have already been coming in that are all throughout our house, you know, all this stuff.

[353] And once, I mean, he's just going, you have to be on this phone call with me when I call my parents and everything.

[354] And I, even in the moment, I thought, don't put that on me. Please don't put that on me. Please rescue me out of this.

[355] Like, I can't tell your parents.

[356] Because I was already terrified of his parents' reactions.

[357] His mom was not emotionally.

[358] I'm always the same person it depended on which day so if you set her off it was not going to be fun once I finally broke I was sobbing I have not cried like that probably since I was a kid he all of a sudden goes oh baby it's gonna be okay we're gonna get through this together it's gonna be okay and he comes and he sits with me on the couch he wraps me up and he holds me like a baby while I am weeping over all of this and he's just like it's okay I want you I want this we're gonna we're gonna be okay, I will fix this.

[359] I will make it happen.

[360] And I'm just like, I'm so sorry that I put this on you, that I've done this to you.

[361] And then did not sleep that night.

[362] Holy shit.

[363] At all.

[364] And neither did he.

[365] And Kimmy is, I think the next morning, texting me saying, okay, like Brian and I did not sleep all night.

[366] But you didn't have any communication with them.

[367] Nope.

[368] I was up pretty much all night.

[369] I think she might have texted me in the middle of the night or something.

[370] And I just said, I can't.

[371] Like I'm, no. I'm not talking to you.

[372] you pretty much something like that basically like Brian talked to your fiance yeah and I know what's going on or was she just yes I sent something you know Kimmy was like Brian had she called him Bubba a lot which was a weird thing to me because he would in random conversation call people Bubba and I'm like yeah he'd be like sorry Bubba you know it's sort of like as a joke but or as a term of endearment like oh Bubba like when his dog would you know get grease on us Oh, Bubba, come here.

[373] You know, kind of stuff like that.

[374] But Kimi would call him Bubba, too.

[375] And I'm just like, ugh.

[376] Like, it just keeps getting weirder.

[377] But she would say, so, you know, Brian had to walk Bubba off a ledge last night.

[378] Like, things weren't.

[379] And I was like, a ledge.

[380] Of course, in my mind, I'm thinking suicide.

[381] He owns guns.

[382] Like, this is, he was in a dark place because this had happened to him before.

[383] Apparently with his ex -fiance, the dad stepped in and said, you cannot marry my daughter and his life shattered.

[384] And so he's reliving all this trauma again.

[385] And even in the moment I remember thinking, don't put the, don't do that, don't manipulate me and make me feel like I can't repeat what someone else has done.

[386] Like, that's not my problem right now is the problem.

[387] I just, I told Kimmy, I said something like, look, I'm in a really, really dark, desperate place.

[388] Just pray, but I cannot talk to you right now.

[389] And I texted my roommate that I was close with that I knew was still home.

[390] It was Mother's Day.

[391] It was a Sunday morning.

[392] I wasn't sure if she was going to head off to church.

[393] but I'm sitting in, I'm like in one of his oversized t -shirts.

[394] I have just gotten out of bed and I'm sitting on the floor.

[395] I can barely stand.

[396] And I texted her and I said, are you home?

[397] Can you come in here?

[398] And she comes in my room and she sees me sitting on the floor and she sits on the floor across from me. And I said, I have a question for you.

[399] And she said, what?

[400] And I said, now is the time for you to be more honest with me than you've ever been.

[401] Do you have any red flags about my marriage?

[402] Like I know I've never asked you about this and I'm sorry because she's been very involved with helping me plan and everything and helped plan the engagement, the surprise everything and I just said is there something I'm missing like now is the time to speak and she just like didn't know what to say and she was like oh honestly like I don't know and she was kind of neutral and she said I mean there have been you know some things but I'm I've seen how happy he makes you and I know you know decently well and so I'll support you kind of whatever you want and then our other roommate walks in and she's like what's going on she's a straight shooter like she will tell it like it is the one that he would not give his give the time of day too.

[403] So she comes in a little different lens.

[404] And she's a no bullshit not going to buy in.

[405] Absolutely.

[406] She'll tell you what you don't want to hear.

[407] Um, if you're open to it kind of thing.

[408] But she's much more blunt.

[409] The roommate I'm closer to is very, very gentle and very gracious.

[410] And sometimes that means she gets walked on and doesn't like, she should, she should speak her mind a little more because she's got a lot of good things to say.

[411] The other one will speak her mind.

[412] And that's part of what I love about her.

[413] And so the three of us together, you know, in a really interesting dynamic because I'm kind of right in the middle.

[414] And so she sits down and I filled her in on what's going on.

[415] And at this point, my walls are down.

[416] I mean, I am the lowest I've ever been.

[417] And I'm telling, and they're like, who are you talking to?

[418] Like, what's the situation?

[419] And my phone's going off and they can see it.

[420] And I said, they're like, is that Kimmy?

[421] And I said, yeah.

[422] They're like, what she's saying?

[423] And I'm like, she is saying, look, it's darkest before, you know, the dawn kind of thing.

[424] And she's begging me to tell her what's going on because I hadn't told her we postpone the wedding.

[425] She just knew something was very wrong that Bubba, quote, you know, had to be walked off a ledge last night and didn't sleep.

[426] And something's wrong.

[427] And so Kimmy started pressuring me and saying, you have to tell me what's happening.

[428] Tell me what's wrong.

[429] And I said, and I was like, look, and I would show them the texts.

[430] The text would come in and it would say, okay, please don't tell me that this is a postponement because We have, she said, the wedding has to happen.

[431] We have tickets booked.

[432] We need to know.

[433] And I went, I'm sorry.

[434] What?

[435] She goes, yeah, we were going to surprise you.

[436] And I just, in the moment I thought, I just had this moment of clarity where I was like, bullshit.

[437] You don't just tell me that now.

[438] And plus, I had a very limited wait, or guest list.

[439] You're just going to show up from London at my wedding.

[440] Like, way to tell me. Like, I wouldn't have had a seat for you, but okay.

[441] And she's like, you have to tell me what's going on.

[442] We have flights booked.

[443] like Brian is looking into like redirecting like canceling the flights if we can redirect the money if this is a money thing maybe we can like cancel the flights and give the money to you to like pay some of the costs and I'm just like Kimmy I can't talk to you right now I just need to find clarity and my my other roommate but I wasn't super close to she goes Sarah call her talk to her have you have you talked to her yet and I was like no I haven't so I was just like hey can we talk on the phone and she's like I'm at dinner with you know Brian right I know.

[444] I'm sorry I can't.

[445] I'm like, I've never asked anything of you ever.

[446] You know, if you really, really love, obviously, you're like obsessed with my, you know, fiancé and our relationship.

[447] Like, it seems like you are.

[448] Can you just do this one thing for me?

[449] And she was like, babe, like I can't.

[450] I'm sorry.

[451] And my roommate says, ask her like to send you a certain picture.

[452] Have you ever talked to her?

[453] And my chest goes cold like this just tight.

[454] I can't breathe.

[455] No, please God, no. You can't be implying what I think you're implying that maybe I could never talk to her.

[456] And she said, have you seen pictures?

[457] And I said, yeah, they have sent me a few pictures, not many, like no more than four or five.

[458] But they're the same people.

[459] It's this blonde chick with this Middle Eastern guy and they have this really cute little girl, but that's all I've seen.

[460] I've seen a wedding photo.

[461] I've seen a selfie of them somewhere together.

[462] And I've seen a picture of Kimmy on the beach with their little girl.

[463] and they said, call her.

[464] So I froze, and then I hit the call button, and it rang and rang.

[465] All of a sudden it just said, you know, this number that you're calling has not been set up for voicemail or, you know, cannot be reached right now or is unavailable.

[466] Something bland like that or neutral, and I was like, oh, my gosh, deep breath.

[467] And then Kimmy calls me back.

[468] Something was wrong is written, recorded, edited, and produced by me, Tiffany Reese.

[469] All the music this season is by the band Gladrax.

[470] A special thank you to Sarah, her family, and friends for participating in this series.

[471] Check out Sarah's personal blog, Space and Purpose, linked in the show notes.

[472] Thank you to Alyssa Doyle for her hype, zen, support, and story editing assistance.

[473] A special shout -out to my husband Michael and our three amazing kids, Jude, Ruby, and Ozzie, for cheering me on every step of the way.

[474] Thank you to Ryan Doyle, who's always encouraging me and just surprised me with a Something Was Wrong website, coming soon.

[475] Follow the hashtag Something Was Wrong pod on Instagram to stay up to date on this series.

[476] There is also now a Something Was Wrong Facebook group that was started by a listener, Jen.

[477] Jen, you're awesome.

[478] I'm not in the group because anxiety.

[479] However, you can join the group by going to Facebook and entering Something Was Wrong into the search bar.

[480] Today's episode is sponsored by PicturePlay.

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