July 1, 2024 • 31 mins
Bonded Through Recovery: Ronnie and Amanda's Love Story
In this episode of the Prisoner's Pardon Podcast, host Michi J welcomes Amanda and Ronnie Woodle, a remarkable couple who have conquered their struggles with drug addiction to become successful business owners. The episode delves into their unique love story, which began amidst a troubled backdrop of drug use, and how they navigated through cycles of addiction, legal troubles, and family challenges. Amanda and Ronnie share openly about their journey of recovery, the importance of mutual support in overcoming addiction, and the value of re-establishing family bonds. Their story is an inspiring testament to resilience, commitment, and the power of love in achieving a better life.
00:00 Welcome to the Show
00:13 Meet Amanda and Ronnie Woodle
00:34 A Love Story Born from Addiction
03:00 The Struggles of Recovery
08:00 Turning Points and Realizations
11:59 The Role of Family and Grandkids
15:33 The Road to Redemption
19:16 Life After Addiction
28:42 Final Thoughts and Takeaways
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amanda (00:00):
it can be done and you can do it together
(00:01):
I think for us and for everybodythat we talk to about stuff like
this is that it can be done.
, it's not just a choice.
It's a determination.
And don't let them tell you thatyou can't do it because you can.
And you can have everything that you want.
Do you have to work for it?
Absolutely.
But it can be done andyou can do it together.
Michi J (00:38):
Hello everyone.
And welcome to aprisoner's pardon podcast.
. I'm Michi J your host.
And I'm so happy to have youhere I know I always say it's a
special show, but you know what?
It always is.
Today I have a couple on.
Their name is Amanda and Ronnie Woodo.
(00:58):
Yes, a couple.
I never thought I wouldhave a couple on as well,
but.
I had to have these two on becausethey are successful business owners.
Traveling the countrytogether as a couple.
It's an incredible love story,this story didn't begin this way.
It began with recovery lookingat what they're doing now,
(01:21):
how successful they are.
You would never think that theyhad to go through a recovery.
Yes.
Both of them was hooked on drugs.
But now.
They're not.
The incredible thing is how they did it.
Together.
I'm going to let them introduce themselves, and
(01:42):
then we're going to get into
They're
story, hi, Amanda.
And hi, Ronnie.
Amanda (01:46):
Oh, hi.
Good to be on the show.
Michi J (01:50):
Well, thank you so much.
Okay.
I want you to tell us,like, how did you two meet?
Amanda (02:00):
So we actually met through drugs, um, honestly, because, um, my
ex husband and his ex wife were friendsand we all were in the meth scene.
And, um, I had separated from myhusband, but was hanging out with
friends of theirs still, and thecircles just overlapped, right?
(02:24):
So then we ended up,um, partying together.
Yeah.
And, uh, it kind of just went from there.
And.
Um, he and his wife ended up separatingand divorcing and me and my husband
ended up separating and divorcingand it just kind of, I don't know, I
hate to say that it was meant to bethrough the addiction because that
(02:48):
was not a great way to start it.
But had we not both been in thatscene, we would have never met.
Michi J (02:55):
True
Ronnie (02:55):
story.
Michi J (02:56):
Yes, you know what, that's fine to say, because a lot of
couples meet under, , less desirablecircumstances, but they do meet, right?
So you
Amanda (03:07):
know,
Michi J (03:08):
So what attracted you to,
Ronnie (03:11):
amanda is beautiful.
So I was just instantly interestedin her when I first met her.
Amanda (03:18):
And Ronnie's personality and humor is what attracted me to him at first.
He's just, he's always happyand jovial and laughing.
And it was nice to see that, , whetherit was drug induced or not, which by the
way, it's not, cause he's still like that.
Michi J (03:34):
Well, good thing.
Right.
Absolutely.
Now, what actually you, you met overdrugs and what happened after that?
Amanda (03:47):
So we, well, actually I got in trouble on a few occasions shortly
after we got together, uh, mostlymisdemeanor possession type of things.
, and we're in Wyoming, so I don't know howthe laws differ from, , Wisconsin, but,
um, Our department of family servicesis pretty tight with stuff like this.
(04:09):
So we lost our, well, I lostmy kids, Ronnie's kids weren't
living with us at the time.
Um, and we kind of went through the,the whole rehab and out of rehab and
getting the kids back and being okayfor a little while, and then right back
into it again, and just like the cyclejust kept continuing, you know, and
this has been, you know, that was over.
(04:31):
Well, I've done meth off and on sinceI was about 18, so I'm, you know,
granted, it's been nine, 10 years now,but it was a good 25, almost 30 years.
You know, it was a long time, notthat it was always all the time.
And I didn't lose the kids tillearly thirties probably for the
first time, but I did lose thekids twice to this, you know?
(04:54):
And so then there, likeI said, it was a process.
And so we would clean up andwe'd go through rehab and we'd.
Get the kids back and then we'd begood for a while and then we slippery
slope down again and it was justlike a, I was so tired of picking
ourselves up out of rock bottom.
It wasn't even funny.
Ronnie (05:14):
Amanda lived in Gillette since she was a child, like, which
is northern Wyoming, by the way.
Amanda (05:20):
And
Ronnie (05:21):
I'm from Rapid City, South Dakota, South Dakota.
And, uh, I moved up there towork in the oil field anyway.
Um, so me and Amanda are thesame age, but we didn't know each
other from school or anything.
Cause I moved up herewhen I was 18, I guess.
But, uh, anyway, um, we decided to makea complete change and we moved, um,
(05:45):
150 miles away from that town just toget away from the people and everything
surrounding that lifestyle, you know?
Um, but, um,
Amanda (05:57):
You can find it wherever you're looking for.
Yeah, which we find out gothung up on it again up here
Ronnie (06:03):
remove code
Michi J (06:05):
So What kind of drove you towards drugs in the first place?
Was it because it was whateverybody else was doing?
What what kind of got you into that scene?
Ronnie (06:17):
For me, it was, uh, bikers, uh, banditos, because he grew
Amanda (06:21):
up right outside of Sturgis.
So motorcycle rally type stuff.
Yes.
And for me, I grew up in thesheltered Christian home.
Where I couldn't do anything.
So that's what was kind of my outlet.
Not that I got, you know, it wasmostly pot back then until after my
(06:43):
first divorce and then it was kindof the people I was hanging out with
kind of experimental type stuff.
And that's, that's one, once youstart experimenting and you find,
if you find it fun, it's a quick,Hey, let's do this more often.
And then all of a suddenyou're doing it all the time.
So,
Michi J (07:00):
right.
So was that like a slipperyslope sort of deal?
It kind of slipped up on you.
Absolutely.
Amanda (07:07):
Every time we've gone back to it has been like that, which is why we know
we can't even try it once now becausewe call it weekend warriors, right?
So you pick a weekend, you're like, youknow what, we should just do, you know,
meth for the weekend and clean the houseor just, you know, party and have fun.
Well, in our area, it's not, it's readilyavailable, but you have to know the
(07:27):
right people and it doesn't always hitat the right time because we're not big
city, we're rural small town, right?
Right.
So we would try to find it on a Fridaynight and it would be like Sunday
morning when we'd finally get it andthen you're up for 24 hours, which
then puts you into the work week.
And then, so then you're looking formore because you're tired because you've
been up for the weekend, you know,and it just kind of all of a sudden
(07:50):
perpetuated into instead of just anevery once in a while weekend, you're
doing it three quarters of the weekand then you're doing it every day.
Michi J (07:58):
Oh, okay.
So this is different.
This is like looking atit in a small town way.
Yes.
And it's not as accessible andit kind of messed up your routine
because you couldn't absolutelyimagine you guys absolutely are funny.
Okay.
That's hilarious.
Okay, so that's, that's good to know.
And, you know, people are, you know,doing this and they need to hear this,
(08:21):
and this is just what, what's going on?
So yeah.
And when you were doing it andyou, you slipped up and how, how
did you, you get out of that?
You know, you, you just wokeup and look, I'm tired of it.
Amanda (08:37):
What
Michi J (08:38):
happened?
Amanda (08:38):
This final time, or like the times before, before we went back
into it, because they're different.
So when we got in troubleearlier, the last time, uh,
Ronnie (08:49):
That we did it, um, it was, um, after the SWAT team busted down
our door and pointed a laser sightsat everybody and we went to jail.
Amanda (09:04):
But we were ready.
So the other thing about where we're atis that, so we hit, we started dealing
it because we were being ripped offby the people we were buying it from.
But in order to do that, we had todrive to our nearest Large metropolitan
city, which happens to be Denver, right?
(09:24):
To acquire it, right?
So now all of a sudden we'redrug running and drug dealing.
So that's where thiskind of all tripped up.
But on top of that, It wasthe, the quality back then.
So we're talking nine and a halfyears ago when we got busted.
So about 10 years ago, I would say we gotto a point where we were, we were done.
(09:45):
We were tired of doing it.
We, it wasn't doingwhat we wanted it to do.
It was garbage.
It was expensive.
You know, I mean, it was just,everything was going wrong.
We couldn't keep jobs.
It was just one thing after another.
And we got to a point where we bothlooked at each other about six months
before we got busted and we're like, Hey,We need to stop because this is crap.
(10:06):
But the problem was is that we didn'thave jobs except for, for dealing drugs.
And so we couldn't get jobscause we couldn't stay off the
drugs long enough to get them.
And, um, it just ended up being one ofthose things where we were ready to quit.
We just didn't know how, andas we were deciding to quit.
I had a medical bill, like alarge one for a neck issue I had
(10:32):
that went to collections and theystarted hitting our bank account,
like right before rent was due.
So we were like, okay,well we're done doing this.
And then they tookeverything we had for rent.
So we had nothing toprovide for our family for.
So we made one last tripto Denver to get more.
And that was when we got busted.
Well, that's it.
Like two days afterwards, we got busted.
(10:54):
So it was, I want to say it wasa blessing in disguise because it
was, it was a little bit more of akick than what we were expecting.
Yes.
Ronnie (11:02):
I wish I wish it could have happened with two less felonies.
Amanda (11:07):
Yeah.
But either way, I mean, theend result was what we needed.
So
Michi J (11:15):
for sure, for sure.
So this is like.
You're both you what you cameinto agreement together like,
Hey, this is not for us.
So you both were on board because normallyI shouldn't say normally, but sometimes
a lot you do see people where one wantsto get off and the other one doesn't and
(11:36):
you two were together on that as well.
So how, how did this happen?
It's just like, you, you nudgedeach other and like, I was already
thinking that Amanda, I was justwaiting for you to say that.
What?
Amanda (11:51):
Yeah,
Ronnie (11:52):
it's getting older and tired of, you know,
Amanda (11:54):
it's
Ronnie (11:55):
kind of
Amanda (11:55):
wasting our lives on what?
I mean, we were renting thislike shoe box house for.
There was crap, you know, and it was, we,we'd always kind of, we would peak and
then we would valley and then we wouldfall off the planet and then we would
peak and we would validate, it was justlike, there were people our age that
were, you know, had great careers and theywere traveling and they had, you know,
(12:18):
all this stuff that we wanted, right.
And, and it wasn't, itwasn't just a drive.
It was more of a, what are we doing?
Yeah.
So, but, but on, on top ofthat, really, really late.
Yeah, really late.
Really late.
Because we were, you know, Yeah.
Late for late thirties.
Late thirties.
But, uh, you know, and, and ourkids were getting older too.
(12:40):
That was the other thing.
Our kids were watching what we were doing.
Michi J (12:44):
Mm-Hmm.
Amanda (12:44):
And we had grandkids coming because my son had already had
Myra, right when we got busted.
So we had our first granddaughter thatwas like a year old when we got busted.
And it, I just, I didn't want.
I didn't want, you know,I didn't want that.
I didn't want the family.
There was, it wasn't evennecessarily a status thing.
(13:05):
I just didn't want the, the grandkidsand our kids to not want to be around us.
And I didn't even want tobe around us half the time.
I mean, we were dumb.
Michi J (13:16):
That was, you know what, that I was going to ask about that.
What about the kids?
Did that kind of rob you?
But you say, you know, youautomatically went there.
Thank you for that.
The grandkids.
So, you know, I kind of likingyou guys to Bonnie and Clyde.
So I don't think the great.
(13:36):
We have five now.
Oh, Congratulations about that.
So that's good that you stoppedwhen that first one came.
Cause you would have hada lot of explaining to do.
Well,
Amanda (13:46):
you know, I just wish we would have stopped before the kids
came because they we've put ourkids through way more than they
should have ever had to go through.
We, we really have now they've,they've mostly, mostly turned
out to be really good people.
You know, some of them still have a littleways to go, but you know, um, My son's
been through Ronnie's my fourth husband.
(14:08):
I'm his third wife.
So
Ronnie (14:10):
together.
We're lucky number seven
Amanda (14:14):
But you know, so I put my my son who is now he'll be 29 and in August
and you know I put him through threefailed marriages And, you know, the
whole time pretty much drug addiction.
When I was with his dad, it was mostlypot, you know, and I don't really consider
that an addiction, it was just what we didat the time, you know, and then after that
(14:36):
it was, you know, meth and coke and prettymuch anything I could get my hands on.
Not to mention a lot ofalcohol back then, too.
And not that I don'tdrink now, because I do.
Um, but I'm very responsible about it now.
Because we have driving jobs and whatnot.
So, um, but, but it, you know, whenthe grandkids came, it kind of put
a different twist to it because myson was basically like, Nope, we're
(15:00):
not doing this, you know, and I'm,I'm extremely proud of him for that.
He's tried it all.
He used to have a problem with,um, well, he used to have anger
issues too, but behavioral issues.
But, um, but alcohol was his bigthing and he doesn't even do that now.
So,
Ronnie (15:16):
but, but he does do kratom and it's a problem for him.
Amanda (15:19):
Yeah, that's true.
But it does keep him from drinking.
So I guess there's that.
And, you know, he's got a mine job,so, you know, he has a very, you know,
he does, he does what he needs to doand he provides for his family and I
couldn't be prouder of the two of them.
Ronnie (15:33):
He calls his mom all the time for advice about, uh,
Amanda (15:37):
about life, financial
Ronnie (15:37):
issues,
Amanda (15:39):
taxes, and car titles and just, you know, stuff like that.
And I love it.
I love the fact thatI'm his go to, you know.
That's
Michi J (15:46):
awesome.
That's awesome.
I'm so proud of both of you, um, inmaking, you know, looking at the kids
and the grandkids and, watching thoselittle eyes watching you and knowing that.
Hmm.
I don't want them to see that.
So in making those changes, sothat was when you two made those
(16:07):
changes again, you said that wasright when the grandkids were there.
And one of the things that youdid, you said you, you moved away.
Amanda (16:17):
Well, so we moved a couple of years before we quit.
So we moved in moved in 2012,July, June, June of 2012.
Like I said, about two hoursaway from quote unquote home.
And started new and that lasted abouta year before we got right back into
it again, we got busted in March of2015, and have not touched it since.
Michi J (16:43):
So why, why haven't you touched it since?
Is it you didn't move again did you?
Amanda (16:47):
No, no, we got busted in this town.
Ronnie (16:50):
We thought we were done when we left and let, and
then they fell into it again.
And then after we gotbusted, I mean, that was,
Amanda (16:57):
well, we, like I said, we were, we already knew we were ready.
We were ready to be done.
And I think that that'sthe key for addiction.
You, I don't care.
How many people tell you you need toquit or force you into this or force you
into that, you know, yes, going to jailhelps because it makes you, you know,
clean up for a while, but until you areready, you are not going to quit, period.
(17:19):
I don't, I don't care who it is.
It has to be that ready to quitthing, which we both were, we just
didn't know necessarily how, andthen I ended up, you know, and I
only spent like three weeks in jail.
Ronnie had like two, but I had aneight to 10 year sentence over my head.
That was the other thing.
I didn't want to miss out on seeing thegrandkids grow up and our kids graduate.
(17:43):
We had at least one that hadn't graduatedfrom high school yet, you know, and it
was still pretty little and, you know,there was just all these things in life
I didn't want to miss out on becauseI was sitting in prison somewhere.
Michi J (17:55):
So, I would like, rationalize this to be
something like, it's, it's love.
Amanda (18:01):
It is.
For each other, for ourselves,for our kids, for our
grandkids, for a better life.
And, and you know what?
And we have that now.
And now we're switching gears again, butbecause we had, we got what we wanted
and now we want something different.
You know what I mean?
Michi J (18:18):
Ronnie, you are about to say something.
Ronnie (18:22):
I don't recall.
Michi J (18:26):
Okay.
I'm sorry about that, Ronnie.
Um, yeah.
So I like what you said, Amanda,that you have to be ready and people,
it depends on the person, whatmakes them ready for you, you too.
It was the grandkids.
You were paying attention to whatthey were paying attention to.
(18:48):
So that's, really significant.
So after you're ready, then thenecessary steps was it hard to do
did you feel, , some sort of pressureafter you, you were ready, but you
still had to make some changes.
Everybody does like you,make some small changes.
Of course, you weren't hangingaround and you weren't, you know,
Amanda (19:10):
we severed ties with everybody except for, um, my best
friend who happened to be one ofthe people we used to party with.
Um, but they were extremely respectfulin the fact that we said, do not
bring it over and do not comearound if you're on it, period.
And we had to do thatfor a really long time.
Nowadays, it's not as big of a deal forus because we're, we're comfortable in.
(19:33):
Being clean, so we could be around it andnot be tempted by it now, but for a good
probably four or five years, it was like,nope, and if we showed up anywhere where
it was happening, we just left, we hadto, because we know we can't do that one
time without it becoming an issue again.
And we have too much to lose now.
(19:54):
I mean, we have, we have a nicehouse and we've got great jobs
and we just bought an RV and arehopefully semi retiring in four years.
Ronnie (20:04):
It's not an RV, but it's a motor coach.
Amanda (20:08):
What's the difference?
We have a huge 39 foot bus, basically.
Like one of the really big, itlooks like a tour bus, basically.
Michi J (20:17):
Wow.
Amanda (20:17):
So, and you know, I never in a million years would have dreamt that we
could have gotten to where we are now.
In like nine, 10 short years, really,
Michi J (20:27):
from where
Amanda (20:28):
we started.
Yeah, 10 short years.
We've got retirement.
We've got, you know, we have awesome,awesome, we've got great credit scores.
We've got brand new cars.
We have four wheelers and motorcyclesand we take vacations and, you
know, it was everything we wanted.
We just took a long time to get here.
Michi J (20:50):
Well, 10 years is not that long compared, you know, looking
at how much you accumulated.
Amanda (20:57):
Oh, absolutely.
I, I could have never dreamed we couldhave done it in 10 years for sure.
But we've worked
Ronnie (21:02):
to do it.
Our next step is going to be alsofor, The grandkids and ourselves.
Um, we're going to early retire andthat's kind of what the bus is for.
Um, but so that we can visitfamily and grandkids and things
that we don't have time for rightnow because we work way too much.
We do work a lot.
We work a lot.
Amanda (21:22):
And they're growing up without us because we work too
much now instead of, you know.
Do drugs all the time.
So,
Michi J (21:30):
well,
Amanda (21:30):
yeah,
Michi J (21:32):
it's a big difference.
You went from very, unproductivelives to very productive lives.
And now you're transitioning to whereyou want to make sure you're in.
Even more productive because you're,you're looking at your grandkids and
you want to, , establish relationships,better relationships with them because
(21:53):
you realize the importance of that.
Am I getting that right?
Amanda (21:56):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Because, you know, well, our oldestgranddaughter just turned 10.
She, she plays soccer and she's.
Fantastic at it.
And they travel and she playssoccer games all over Utah.
And it's, I, I've gottento see one practice.
She's played for four years andI've got to see one practice.
I have yet to see a gamebecause she's too far away.
(22:19):
And we have like 36 hours off on aweekend, except for the one week a
year, we get off together becausethat's all we get off together.
Right now.
Michi J (22:28):
Okay.
All right.
So you two, it just looks like in,you know, I was around you to you
to have an awesome relationship.
You're laughing, you're talkingtogether, you're engaging.
I mean, I, I do call youguys, Bonnie and Clyde.
You all are so well matched,you know, so well matched.
(22:48):
And it's really hopeful with someonethat probably been through some
relationships that didn't work out.
And, and now, you know, You know, givingthem the hope that they can get to that
place where they do have that individual.
So I do applaud you be, you know, beingtogether because like I said, you got
couples that fall apart under the.
Way less of pressure than youguys did having SWAT teams come
(23:11):
into the house and stuff like
Amanda (23:13):
that.
You've had relationships fallapart for way less than that too.
And the other thing was, is whenwe went through treatment, they
almost didn't let us do it together.
Because, because of the fact thatmost of the time one or the other of
the couple will fall off the wagonand then it takes the other one with.
Michi J (23:32):
Right.
Amanda (23:32):
So a lot of times they separate them.
Michi J (23:36):
So how
Amanda (23:36):
did you
Michi J (23:38):
get them to let you do it together?
Amanda (23:41):
We, uh, pled with them.
We said, Hey, you know,we need to do this.
You know, this is somethingwe need to do together.
Um, we're both all in and if it'sgoing to work, it's going to work.
And if it's not, it's not.
But then they gave us a shot.
They also told us that if itwasn't going to work, they would
separate us out after that.
But, you know, they w they didn't wantus to, at first they almost, they've
(24:03):
tried to make us separate completely.
They tried to make uslive in separate houses.
Yeah.
Ronnie (24:08):
My judge,
Amanda (24:09):
my judge tried to do that twice.
Um, you know, tried to make us.
Before we were married, when I got introuble, they tried to, to separate us,
we were, um, engaged and they're like,no, you need to, you know, break up
with him and I'm like, we're engaged.
It's not going to happen.
Sorry.
And then this last time when,you know, we'd been married
for years and years and years.
(24:29):
Say what's our,
Ronnie (24:31):
what's our anniversary is here.
Amanda (24:33):
What do you mean what's our anniversary?
What number?
You don't know what number is?
I
Ronnie (24:37):
can't think of it right now.
Amanda (24:37):
Twelve.
Twelve.
We've been married 12years as of end of July,
Michi J (24:45):
we've
Amanda (24:46):
been together for 17.
Michi J (24:48):
Wow.
This is an incredible story.
I really, that, that iswhat I was talking about.
It's very unusual.
It's usually one day fall offand the other one,, want to stay,
you know, so it's like, but I'mglad to hear that it is possible.
It is possible.
(25:08):
Together.
And it just depends on the people.
So, and, and they gave you a shot.
So I hope, people are listeningto this then to understand that
family does need to, if at allpossible, keep them together.
So
Amanda (25:22):
definitely, Oh, that was just give the hope and give the extra chances
because it's not like my biggest thingwas I was, when we left Gillette.
I had had the kids taken away twice, andthen this third time, when they, Gillette
DFS, Department of Family Services,told me this is your last chance.
If she goes away again, it was my youngestat that time, because my oldest was Old
(25:46):
enough to go with his dad at that point.
Um, and my, our youngest is autistic,so it was a different kind of case.
Um, but they're like, if, if theytake her away again, she's gone.
So when we got busted with ourfelonies, I immediately was freaked
out because I thought we were done.
I thought she was gone for good.
And that they were going to place her insome foster care, you know, she'd end up
(26:09):
being part of the system and I, it wasnot going to be okay one way or another,
but I tell you what, the biggest thingfor me with that too, was that the DFS
system in where we live now worked withus immediately and they're like, we're not
trying to take her away where we live now,
Ronnie (26:28):
where we moved from, they were, they were the
ones that said, uh, it's over
, Amanda (26:31):
Like made this jump through hoops for years and gave her back finally.
Here where we're at now, it was like fouror five months, and we did everything we
were supposed to, you know, we were dailyUAing, and everything was good, and we
were going to classes, and we were doingeverything we were supposed to, and we
had her back in like four or five months,and they're like, no, we're planning on
reuniting, because I had given up hope assoon as I went to jail, because I thought,
(26:56):
our daughter's gone, she's gone, I'm,you know, I'm never gonna see her again.
And just, I think that hope, hope andambition and something to work for
Ronnie (27:09):
that day, a lot of them,
Amanda (27:11):
they allowed us because it was, you know, I, I really was at the point
where I was like, we're just, we're justdone, we're just done, we had to be done.
Michi J (27:22):
So that's good that, um, I'm just gonna say that alluded to
forgiveness and them giving you chances.
guys.
To rectify that situation, so wedo need to have that compassion for
people to give them chances, of course,protecting them and the kids at the
same time, of course, but also allowing.
(27:46):
Or that family to be reestablished.
And so many times, like you said,department of family services, , some
of them, they do work to, they have likethe wrong mission is to take the kids.
And when they should be looking athow we can keep the kids with you,
that's a whole different perspective.
And that means you'll be doingthings a lot differently.
(28:08):
So that is just a miracle.
You guys, that's, that is a miracle thatyou were able to get the kids back because
normally DFS is, it's the entity untothemselves and they have different rules.
It's a whole nother court system.
So
Amanda (28:25):
it definitely is,
Michi J (28:26):
definitely is definitely different from
the criminal justice system.
They have their own system and wedo really need to bring them to have
the some standards and keep it like.
Not just, you can do this overhere and then you go to the
next county and it's different.
So then we're
Amanda (28:43):
at now that we were fortunate to the fact that they
have funding that helped us.
They, they put us through rehab andthey paid for stuff like that, where it
was, you know, when we were unemployedand straight out of jail, we didn't
have to try to figure out how to payfor everything on top of all of that.
So they provided treatment for us.
Michi J (29:06):
That is not done in a lot of places.
Amanda (29:10):
Like I said, small town, small town, which I guess
is the fortunate part of that.
Ronnie (29:15):
He says it's a small town, but this is the second
largest city in our state.
Michi J (29:20):
Well, we're going to be wrapping this up now, but what is
the main thing you want the audienceto take away from this conversation?
Both you and Ronnie, you cansay two different things,
or you can do it together.
Whichever you like.
Ronnie (29:37):
Buy a motorcycle.
Amanda (29:41):
No, I think for, for us and for everybody that we talk to about
stuff like this is that it can be done.
You know, it's not justit's not just a choice.
It's a determination.
And don't let them tell you thatyou can't do it because you can.
And you can have everything that you want.
Do you have to work for it?
Absolutely.
But it can be done andyou can do it together.
Michi J (30:03):
Together.
I like that.
Together.
Together.
You can do it together.
Ronnie (30:08):
Okay,
Michi J (30:11):
well, thank you so much.
Amanda and Ronnie, this was a pleasureand you are my Bonnie and Clyde.
I really thank you for coming on andsharing your experience and sharing
with the audience how to stick together.
I say, not just through beauty,because yes, Amanda is very beautiful.
(30:32):
Ronnie is very funny as well.
So it's, you need those things andbeauty is from the inside out humor.
Everybody needs humor.
So.
Amanda (30:43):
That's true.
Michi J (30:44):
All right.
Well, thank you all.
You all have a blessed evening and thankyou for being on the show again and again.
I thank you again and again.
So that's all.
Oh, wow.
Yes.
It was a pleasure.
So
Ronnie (30:59):
I was going to say thank you for the opportunity also.
And this was fun.
Michi J (31:05):
Thank you.
Well, that's it, everyone.
Thank you for listening and may youhave a week filled with blessings.
it can be done and you can do it together
(00:01):
I think for us and for everybodythat we talk to about stuff like
this is that it can be done.
, it's not just a choice.
It's a determination.
And don't let them tell you thatyou can't do it because you can.
And you can have everything that you want.
Do you have to work for it?
Absolutely.
But it can be done andyou can do it together.
Michi J (00:38):
Hello everyone.
And welcome to aprisoner's pardon podcast.
. I'm Michi J your host.
And I'm so happy to have youhere I know I always say it's a
special show, but you know what?
It always is.
Today I have a couple on.
Their name is Amanda and Ronnie Woodo.
(00:58):
Yes, a couple.
I never thought I wouldhave a couple on as well,
but.
I had to have these two on becausethey are successful business owners.
Traveling the countrytogether as a couple.
It's an incredible love story,this story didn't begin this way.
It began with recovery lookingat what they're doing now,
(01:21):
how successful they are.
You would never think that theyhad to go through a recovery.
Yes.
Both of them was hooked on drugs.
But now.
They're not.
The incredible thing is how they did it.
Together.
I'm going to let them introduce themselves, and
(01:42):
then we're going to get into
They're
story, hi, Amanda.
And hi, Ronnie.
Amanda (01:46):
Oh, hi.
Good to be on the show.
Michi J (01:50):
Well, thank you so much.
Okay.
I want you to tell us,like, how did you two meet?
Amanda (02:00):
So we actually met through drugs, um, honestly, because, um, my
ex husband and his ex wife were friendsand we all were in the meth scene.
And, um, I had separated from myhusband, but was hanging out with
friends of theirs still, and thecircles just overlapped, right?
(02:24):
So then we ended up,um, partying together.
Yeah.
And, uh, it kind of just went from there.
And.
Um, he and his wife ended up separatingand divorcing and me and my husband
ended up separating and divorcingand it just kind of, I don't know, I
hate to say that it was meant to bethrough the addiction because that
(02:48):
was not a great way to start it.
But had we not both been in thatscene, we would have never met.
Michi J (02:55):
True
Ronnie (02:55):
story.
Michi J (02:56):
Yes, you know what, that's fine to say, because a lot of
couples meet under, , less desirablecircumstances, but they do meet, right?
So you
Amanda (03:07):
know,
Michi J (03:08):
So what attracted you to,
Ronnie (03:11):
amanda is beautiful.
So I was just instantly interestedin her when I first met her.
Amanda (03:18):
And Ronnie's personality and humor is what attracted me to him at first.
He's just, he's always happyand jovial and laughing.
And it was nice to see that, , whetherit was drug induced or not, which by the
way, it's not, cause he's still like that.
Michi J (03:34):
Well, good thing.
Right.
Absolutely.
Now, what actually you, you met overdrugs and what happened after that?
Amanda (03:47):
So we, well, actually I got in trouble on a few occasions shortly
after we got together, uh, mostlymisdemeanor possession type of things.
, and we're in Wyoming, so I don't know howthe laws differ from, , Wisconsin, but,
um, Our department of family servicesis pretty tight with stuff like this.
(04:09):
So we lost our, well, I lostmy kids, Ronnie's kids weren't
living with us at the time.
Um, and we kind of went through the,the whole rehab and out of rehab and
getting the kids back and being okayfor a little while, and then right back
into it again, and just like the cyclejust kept continuing, you know, and
this has been, you know, that was over.
(04:31):
Well, I've done meth off and on sinceI was about 18, so I'm, you know,
granted, it's been nine, 10 years now,but it was a good 25, almost 30 years.
You know, it was a long time, notthat it was always all the time.
And I didn't lose the kids tillearly thirties probably for the
first time, but I did lose thekids twice to this, you know?
(04:54):
And so then there, likeI said, it was a process.
And so we would clean up andwe'd go through rehab and we'd.
Get the kids back and then we'd begood for a while and then we slippery
slope down again and it was justlike a, I was so tired of picking
ourselves up out of rock bottom.
It wasn't even funny.
Ronnie (05:14):
Amanda lived in Gillette since she was a child, like, which
is northern Wyoming, by the way.
Amanda (05:20):
And
Ronnie (05:21):
I'm from Rapid City, South Dakota, South Dakota.
And, uh, I moved up there towork in the oil field anyway.
Um, so me and Amanda are thesame age, but we didn't know each
other from school or anything.
Cause I moved up herewhen I was 18, I guess.
But, uh, anyway, um, we decided to makea complete change and we moved, um,
(05:45):
150 miles away from that town just toget away from the people and everything
surrounding that lifestyle, you know?
Um, but, um,
Amanda (05:57):
You can find it wherever you're looking for.
Yeah, which we find out gothung up on it again up here
Ronnie (06:03):
remove code
Michi J (06:05):
So What kind of drove you towards drugs in the first place?
Was it because it was whateverybody else was doing?
What what kind of got you into that scene?
Ronnie (06:17):
For me, it was, uh, bikers, uh, banditos, because he grew
Amanda (06:21):
up right outside of Sturgis.
So motorcycle rally type stuff.
Yes.
And for me, I grew up in thesheltered Christian home.
Where I couldn't do anything.
So that's what was kind of my outlet.
Not that I got, you know, it wasmostly pot back then until after my
(06:43):
first divorce and then it was kindof the people I was hanging out with
kind of experimental type stuff.
And that's, that's one, once youstart experimenting and you find,
if you find it fun, it's a quick,Hey, let's do this more often.
And then all of a suddenyou're doing it all the time.
So,
Michi J (07:00):
right.
So was that like a slipperyslope sort of deal?
It kind of slipped up on you.
Absolutely.
Amanda (07:07):
Every time we've gone back to it has been like that, which is why we know
we can't even try it once now becausewe call it weekend warriors, right?
So you pick a weekend, you're like, youknow what, we should just do, you know,
meth for the weekend and clean the houseor just, you know, party and have fun.
Well, in our area, it's not, it's readilyavailable, but you have to know the
(07:27):
right people and it doesn't always hitat the right time because we're not big
city, we're rural small town, right?
Right.
So we would try to find it on a Fridaynight and it would be like Sunday
morning when we'd finally get it andthen you're up for 24 hours, which
then puts you into the work week.
And then, so then you're looking formore because you're tired because you've
been up for the weekend, you know,and it just kind of all of a sudden
(07:50):
perpetuated into instead of just anevery once in a while weekend, you're
doing it three quarters of the weekand then you're doing it every day.
Michi J (07:58):
Oh, okay.
So this is different.
This is like looking atit in a small town way.
Yes.
And it's not as accessible andit kind of messed up your routine
because you couldn't absolutelyimagine you guys absolutely are funny.
Okay.
That's hilarious.
Okay, so that's, that's good to know.
And, you know, people are, you know,doing this and they need to hear this,
(08:21):
and this is just what, what's going on?
So yeah.
And when you were doing it andyou, you slipped up and how, how
did you, you get out of that?
You know, you, you just wokeup and look, I'm tired of it.
Amanda (08:37):
What
Michi J (08:38):
happened?
Amanda (08:38):
This final time, or like the times before, before we went back
into it, because they're different.
So when we got in troubleearlier, the last time, uh,
Ronnie (08:49):
That we did it, um, it was, um, after the SWAT team busted down
our door and pointed a laser sightsat everybody and we went to jail.
Amanda (09:04):
But we were ready.
So the other thing about where we're atis that, so we hit, we started dealing
it because we were being ripped offby the people we were buying it from.
But in order to do that, we had todrive to our nearest Large metropolitan
city, which happens to be Denver, right?
(09:24):
To acquire it, right?
So now all of a sudden we'redrug running and drug dealing.
So that's where thiskind of all tripped up.
But on top of that, It wasthe, the quality back then.
So we're talking nine and a halfyears ago when we got busted.
So about 10 years ago, I would say we gotto a point where we were, we were done.
(09:45):
We were tired of doing it.
We, it wasn't doingwhat we wanted it to do.
It was garbage.
It was expensive.
You know, I mean, it was just,everything was going wrong.
We couldn't keep jobs.
It was just one thing after another.
And we got to a point where we bothlooked at each other about six months
before we got busted and we're like, Hey,We need to stop because this is crap.
(10:06):
But the problem was is that we didn'thave jobs except for, for dealing drugs.
And so we couldn't get jobscause we couldn't stay off the
drugs long enough to get them.
And, um, it just ended up being one ofthose things where we were ready to quit.
We just didn't know how, andas we were deciding to quit.
I had a medical bill, like alarge one for a neck issue I had
(10:32):
that went to collections and theystarted hitting our bank account,
like right before rent was due.
So we were like, okay,well we're done doing this.
And then they tookeverything we had for rent.
So we had nothing toprovide for our family for.
So we made one last tripto Denver to get more.
And that was when we got busted.
Well, that's it.
Like two days afterwards, we got busted.
(10:54):
So it was, I want to say it wasa blessing in disguise because it
was, it was a little bit more of akick than what we were expecting.
Yes.
Ronnie (11:02):
I wish I wish it could have happened with two less felonies.
Amanda (11:07):
Yeah.
But either way, I mean, theend result was what we needed.
So
Michi J (11:15):
for sure, for sure.
So this is like.
You're both you what you cameinto agreement together like,
Hey, this is not for us.
So you both were on board because normallyI shouldn't say normally, but sometimes
a lot you do see people where one wantsto get off and the other one doesn't and
(11:36):
you two were together on that as well.
So how, how did this happen?
It's just like, you, you nudgedeach other and like, I was already
thinking that Amanda, I was justwaiting for you to say that.
What?
Amanda (11:51):
Yeah,
Ronnie (11:52):
it's getting older and tired of, you know,
Amanda (11:54):
it's
Ronnie (11:55):
kind of
Amanda (11:55):
wasting our lives on what?
I mean, we were renting thislike shoe box house for.
There was crap, you know, and it was, we,we'd always kind of, we would peak and
then we would valley and then we wouldfall off the planet and then we would
peak and we would validate, it was justlike, there were people our age that
were, you know, had great careers and theywere traveling and they had, you know,
(12:18):
all this stuff that we wanted, right.
And, and it wasn't, itwasn't just a drive.
It was more of a, what are we doing?
Yeah.
So, but, but on, on top ofthat, really, really late.
Yeah, really late.
Really late.
Because we were, you know, Yeah.
Late for late thirties.
Late thirties.
But, uh, you know, and, and ourkids were getting older too.
(12:40):
That was the other thing.
Our kids were watching what we were doing.
Michi J (12:44):
Mm-Hmm.
Amanda (12:44):
And we had grandkids coming because my son had already had
Myra, right when we got busted.
So we had our first granddaughter thatwas like a year old when we got busted.
And it, I just, I didn't want.
I didn't want, you know,I didn't want that.
I didn't want the family.
There was, it wasn't evennecessarily a status thing.
(13:05):
I just didn't want the, the grandkidsand our kids to not want to be around us.
And I didn't even want tobe around us half the time.
I mean, we were dumb.
Michi J (13:16):
That was, you know what, that I was going to ask about that.
What about the kids?
Did that kind of rob you?
But you say, you know, youautomatically went there.
Thank you for that.
The grandkids.
So, you know, I kind of likingyou guys to Bonnie and Clyde.
So I don't think the great.
(13:36):
We have five now.
Oh, Congratulations about that.
So that's good that you stoppedwhen that first one came.
Cause you would have hada lot of explaining to do.
Well,
Amanda (13:46):
you know, I just wish we would have stopped before the kids
came because they we've put ourkids through way more than they
should have ever had to go through.
We, we really have now they've,they've mostly, mostly turned
out to be really good people.
You know, some of them still have a littleways to go, but you know, um, My son's
been through Ronnie's my fourth husband.
(14:08):
I'm his third wife.
So
Ronnie (14:10):
together.
We're lucky number seven
Amanda (14:14):
But you know, so I put my my son who is now he'll be 29 and in August
and you know I put him through threefailed marriages And, you know, the
whole time pretty much drug addiction.
When I was with his dad, it was mostlypot, you know, and I don't really consider
that an addiction, it was just what we didat the time, you know, and then after that
(14:36):
it was, you know, meth and coke and prettymuch anything I could get my hands on.
Not to mention a lot ofalcohol back then, too.
And not that I don'tdrink now, because I do.
Um, but I'm very responsible about it now.
Because we have driving jobs and whatnot.
So, um, but, but it, you know, whenthe grandkids came, it kind of put
a different twist to it because myson was basically like, Nope, we're
(15:00):
not doing this, you know, and I'm,I'm extremely proud of him for that.
He's tried it all.
He used to have a problem with,um, well, he used to have anger
issues too, but behavioral issues.
But, um, but alcohol was his bigthing and he doesn't even do that now.
So,
Ronnie (15:16):
but, but he does do kratom and it's a problem for him.
Amanda (15:19):
Yeah, that's true.
But it does keep him from drinking.
So I guess there's that.
And, you know, he's got a mine job,so, you know, he has a very, you know,
he does, he does what he needs to doand he provides for his family and I
couldn't be prouder of the two of them.
Ronnie (15:33):
He calls his mom all the time for advice about, uh,
Amanda (15:37):
about life, financial
Ronnie (15:37):
issues,
Amanda (15:39):
taxes, and car titles and just, you know, stuff like that.
And I love it.
I love the fact thatI'm his go to, you know.
That's
Michi J (15:46):
awesome.
That's awesome.
I'm so proud of both of you, um, inmaking, you know, looking at the kids
and the grandkids and, watching thoselittle eyes watching you and knowing that.
Hmm.
I don't want them to see that.
So in making those changes, sothat was when you two made those
(16:07):
changes again, you said that wasright when the grandkids were there.
And one of the things that youdid, you said you, you moved away.
Amanda (16:17):
Well, so we moved a couple of years before we quit.
So we moved in moved in 2012,July, June, June of 2012.
Like I said, about two hoursaway from quote unquote home.
And started new and that lasted abouta year before we got right back into
it again, we got busted in March of2015, and have not touched it since.
Michi J (16:43):
So why, why haven't you touched it since?
Is it you didn't move again did you?
Amanda (16:47):
No, no, we got busted in this town.
Ronnie (16:50):
We thought we were done when we left and let, and
then they fell into it again.
And then after we gotbusted, I mean, that was,
Amanda (16:57):
well, we, like I said, we were, we already knew we were ready.
We were ready to be done.
And I think that that'sthe key for addiction.
You, I don't care.
How many people tell you you need toquit or force you into this or force you
into that, you know, yes, going to jailhelps because it makes you, you know,
clean up for a while, but until you areready, you are not going to quit, period.
(17:19):
I don't, I don't care who it is.
It has to be that ready to quitthing, which we both were, we just
didn't know necessarily how, andthen I ended up, you know, and I
only spent like three weeks in jail.
Ronnie had like two, but I had aneight to 10 year sentence over my head.
That was the other thing.
I didn't want to miss out on seeing thegrandkids grow up and our kids graduate.
(17:43):
We had at least one that hadn't graduatedfrom high school yet, you know, and it
was still pretty little and, you know,there was just all these things in life
I didn't want to miss out on becauseI was sitting in prison somewhere.
Michi J (17:55):
So, I would like, rationalize this to be
something like, it's, it's love.
Amanda (18:01):
It is.
For each other, for ourselves,for our kids, for our
grandkids, for a better life.
And, and you know what?
And we have that now.
And now we're switching gears again, butbecause we had, we got what we wanted
and now we want something different.
You know what I mean?
Michi J (18:18):
Ronnie, you are about to say something.
Ronnie (18:22):
I don't recall.
Michi J (18:26):
Okay.
I'm sorry about that, Ronnie.
Um, yeah.
So I like what you said, Amanda,that you have to be ready and people,
it depends on the person, whatmakes them ready for you, you too.
It was the grandkids.
You were paying attention to whatthey were paying attention to.
(18:48):
So that's, really significant.
So after you're ready, then thenecessary steps was it hard to do
did you feel, , some sort of pressureafter you, you were ready, but you
still had to make some changes.
Everybody does like you,make some small changes.
Of course, you weren't hangingaround and you weren't, you know,
Amanda (19:10):
we severed ties with everybody except for, um, my best
friend who happened to be one ofthe people we used to party with.
Um, but they were extremely respectfulin the fact that we said, do not
bring it over and do not comearound if you're on it, period.
And we had to do thatfor a really long time.
Nowadays, it's not as big of a deal forus because we're, we're comfortable in.
(19:33):
Being clean, so we could be around it andnot be tempted by it now, but for a good
probably four or five years, it was like,nope, and if we showed up anywhere where
it was happening, we just left, we hadto, because we know we can't do that one
time without it becoming an issue again.
And we have too much to lose now.
(19:54):
I mean, we have, we have a nicehouse and we've got great jobs
and we just bought an RV and arehopefully semi retiring in four years.
Ronnie (20:04):
It's not an RV, but it's a motor coach.
Amanda (20:08):
What's the difference?
We have a huge 39 foot bus, basically.
Like one of the really big, itlooks like a tour bus, basically.
Michi J (20:17):
Wow.
Amanda (20:17):
So, and you know, I never in a million years would have dreamt that we
could have gotten to where we are now.
In like nine, 10 short years, really,
Michi J (20:27):
from where
Amanda (20:28):
we started.
Yeah, 10 short years.
We've got retirement.
We've got, you know, we have awesome,awesome, we've got great credit scores.
We've got brand new cars.
We have four wheelers and motorcyclesand we take vacations and, you
know, it was everything we wanted.
We just took a long time to get here.
Michi J (20:50):
Well, 10 years is not that long compared, you know, looking
at how much you accumulated.
Amanda (20:57):
Oh, absolutely.
I, I could have never dreamed we couldhave done it in 10 years for sure.
But we've worked
Ronnie (21:02):
to do it.
Our next step is going to be alsofor, The grandkids and ourselves.
Um, we're going to early retire andthat's kind of what the bus is for.
Um, but so that we can visitfamily and grandkids and things
that we don't have time for rightnow because we work way too much.
We do work a lot.
We work a lot.
Amanda (21:22):
And they're growing up without us because we work too
much now instead of, you know.
Do drugs all the time.
So,
Michi J (21:30):
well,
Amanda (21:30):
yeah,
Michi J (21:32):
it's a big difference.
You went from very, unproductivelives to very productive lives.
And now you're transitioning to whereyou want to make sure you're in.
Even more productive because you're,you're looking at your grandkids and
you want to, , establish relationships,better relationships with them because
(21:53):
you realize the importance of that.
Am I getting that right?
Amanda (21:56):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Because, you know, well, our oldestgranddaughter just turned 10.
She, she plays soccer and she's.
Fantastic at it.
And they travel and she playssoccer games all over Utah.
And it's, I, I've gottento see one practice.
She's played for four years andI've got to see one practice.
I have yet to see a gamebecause she's too far away.
(22:19):
And we have like 36 hours off on aweekend, except for the one week a
year, we get off together becausethat's all we get off together.
Right now.
Michi J (22:28):
Okay.
All right.
So you two, it just looks like in,you know, I was around you to you
to have an awesome relationship.
You're laughing, you're talkingtogether, you're engaging.
I mean, I, I do call youguys, Bonnie and Clyde.
You all are so well matched,you know, so well matched.
(22:48):
And it's really hopeful with someonethat probably been through some
relationships that didn't work out.
And, and now, you know, You know, givingthem the hope that they can get to that
place where they do have that individual.
So I do applaud you be, you know, beingtogether because like I said, you got
couples that fall apart under the.
Way less of pressure than youguys did having SWAT teams come
(23:11):
into the house and stuff like
Amanda (23:13):
that.
You've had relationships fallapart for way less than that too.
And the other thing was, is whenwe went through treatment, they
almost didn't let us do it together.
Because, because of the fact thatmost of the time one or the other of
the couple will fall off the wagonand then it takes the other one with.
Michi J (23:32):
Right.
Amanda (23:32):
So a lot of times they separate them.
Michi J (23:36):
So how
Amanda (23:36):
did you
Michi J (23:38):
get them to let you do it together?
Amanda (23:41):
We, uh, pled with them.
We said, Hey, you know,we need to do this.
You know, this is somethingwe need to do together.
Um, we're both all in and if it'sgoing to work, it's going to work.
And if it's not, it's not.
But then they gave us a shot.
They also told us that if itwasn't going to work, they would
separate us out after that.
But, you know, they w they didn't wantus to, at first they almost, they've
(24:03):
tried to make us separate completely.
They tried to make uslive in separate houses.
Yeah.
Ronnie (24:08):
My judge,
Amanda (24:09):
my judge tried to do that twice.
Um, you know, tried to make us.
Before we were married, when I got introuble, they tried to, to separate us,
we were, um, engaged and they're like,no, you need to, you know, break up
with him and I'm like, we're engaged.
It's not going to happen.
Sorry.
And then this last time when,you know, we'd been married
for years and years and years.
(24:29):
Say what's our,
Ronnie (24:31):
what's our anniversary is here.
Amanda (24:33):
What do you mean what's our anniversary?
What number?
You don't know what number is?
I
Ronnie (24:37):
can't think of it right now.
Amanda (24:37):
Twelve.
Twelve.
We've been married 12years as of end of July,
Michi J (24:45):
we've
Amanda (24:46):
been together for 17.
Michi J (24:48):
Wow.
This is an incredible story.
I really, that, that iswhat I was talking about.
It's very unusual.
It's usually one day fall offand the other one,, want to stay,
you know, so it's like, but I'mglad to hear that it is possible.
It is possible.
(25:08):
Together.
And it just depends on the people.
So, and, and they gave you a shot.
So I hope, people are listeningto this then to understand that
family does need to, if at allpossible, keep them together.
So
Amanda (25:22):
definitely, Oh, that was just give the hope and give the extra chances
because it's not like my biggest thingwas I was, when we left Gillette.
I had had the kids taken away twice, andthen this third time, when they, Gillette
DFS, Department of Family Services,told me this is your last chance.
If she goes away again, it was my youngestat that time, because my oldest was Old
(25:46):
enough to go with his dad at that point.
Um, and my, our youngest is autistic,so it was a different kind of case.
Um, but they're like, if, if theytake her away again, she's gone.
So when we got busted with ourfelonies, I immediately was freaked
out because I thought we were done.
I thought she was gone for good.
And that they were going to place her insome foster care, you know, she'd end up
(26:09):
being part of the system and I, it wasnot going to be okay one way or another,
but I tell you what, the biggest thingfor me with that too, was that the DFS
system in where we live now worked withus immediately and they're like, we're not
trying to take her away where we live now,
Ronnie (26:28):
where we moved from, they were, they were the
ones that said, uh, it's over
, Amanda (26:31):
Like made this jump through hoops for years and gave her back finally.
Here where we're at now, it was like fouror five months, and we did everything we
were supposed to, you know, we were dailyUAing, and everything was good, and we
were going to classes, and we were doingeverything we were supposed to, and we
had her back in like four or five months,and they're like, no, we're planning on
reuniting, because I had given up hope assoon as I went to jail, because I thought,
(26:56):
our daughter's gone, she's gone, I'm,you know, I'm never gonna see her again.
And just, I think that hope, hope andambition and something to work for
Ronnie (27:09):
that day, a lot of them,
Amanda (27:11):
they allowed us because it was, you know, I, I really was at the point
where I was like, we're just, we're justdone, we're just done, we had to be done.
Michi J (27:22):
So that's good that, um, I'm just gonna say that alluded to
forgiveness and them giving you chances.
guys.
To rectify that situation, so wedo need to have that compassion for
people to give them chances, of course,protecting them and the kids at the
same time, of course, but also allowing.
(27:46):
Or that family to be reestablished.
And so many times, like you said,department of family services, , some
of them, they do work to, they have likethe wrong mission is to take the kids.
And when they should be looking athow we can keep the kids with you,
that's a whole different perspective.
And that means you'll be doingthings a lot differently.
(28:08):
So that is just a miracle.
You guys, that's, that is a miracle thatyou were able to get the kids back because
normally DFS is, it's the entity untothemselves and they have different rules.
It's a whole nother court system.
So
Amanda (28:25):
it definitely is,
Michi J (28:26):
definitely is definitely different from
the criminal justice system.
They have their own system and wedo really need to bring them to have
the some standards and keep it like.
Not just, you can do this overhere and then you go to the
next county and it's different.
So then we're
Amanda (28:43):
at now that we were fortunate to the fact that they
have funding that helped us.
They, they put us through rehab andthey paid for stuff like that, where it
was, you know, when we were unemployedand straight out of jail, we didn't
have to try to figure out how to payfor everything on top of all of that.
So they provided treatment for us.
Michi J (29:06):
That is not done in a lot of places.
Amanda (29:10):
Like I said, small town, small town, which I guess
is the fortunate part of that.
Ronnie (29:15):
He says it's a small town, but this is the second
largest city in our state.
Michi J (29:20):
Well, we're going to be wrapping this up now, but what is
the main thing you want the audienceto take away from this conversation?
Both you and Ronnie, you cansay two different things,
or you can do it together.
Whichever you like.
Ronnie (29:37):
Buy a motorcycle.
Amanda (29:41):
No, I think for, for us and for everybody that we talk to about
stuff like this is that it can be done.
You know, it's not justit's not just a choice.
It's a determination.
And don't let them tell you thatyou can't do it because you can.
And you can have everything that you want.
Do you have to work for it?
Absolutely.
But it can be done andyou can do it together.
Michi J (30:03):
Together.
I like that.
Together.
Together.
You can do it together.
Ronnie (30:08):
Okay,
Michi J (30:11):
well, thank you so much.
Amanda and Ronnie, this was a pleasureand you are my Bonnie and Clyde.
I really thank you for coming on andsharing your experience and sharing
with the audience how to stick together.
I say, not just through beauty,because yes, Amanda is very beautiful.
(30:32):
Ronnie is very funny as well.
So it's, you need those things andbeauty is from the inside out humor.
Everybody needs humor.
So.
Amanda (30:43):
That's true.
Michi J (30:44):
All right.
Well, thank you all.
You all have a blessed evening and thankyou for being on the show again and again.
I thank you again and again.
So that's all.
Oh, wow.
Yes.
It was a pleasure.
So
Ronnie (30:59):
I was going to say thank you for the opportunity also.
And this was fun.
Michi J (31:05):
Thank you.
Well, that's it, everyone.
Thank you for listening and may youhave a week filled with blessings.
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