Back To Jail - One More Time

So by about 2:00 AM that Friday night my new wife had managed to find a local bail bondsman who would accept our $10,000.00 to put $100,000.00 on the line trusting that I would show up for my court date. Several had turned her down that night and looking at my past history, I probably would have to.
After signing lots of papers and making lots of promises I was back home with Deb and our unborn child. Please remember I'm around 26 or 27 years old by now and supposed to have my act together. She had just gotten out of a nightmare relationship with her first husband and I can just imagine what might have been going through her pretty head. Here she was, eight months pregnant with a guy she'd only known for about a year and a half and she was using her hard earned money to get my sorry butt out of jail.
If you back up just a few weeks earlier her life was just peachy. She was with the man of her dreams about to have the baby she always wanted, we had put a few thousand dollars down on a piece of land where we were going to put one of them fancy double wide trailers and life was good. All of the sudden this new reality appears and kaos once again rises its evil head.
Anyhow, we had to work quick. Deb told me I was her man and that she was standing by my side no matter what. We convinced the land owner to give us our money back by explaining that we intended to buy the land, we weren't backing out intentionally and that if I wouldn't have gotten caught selling those drugs that we would have honored our commitment. (can you imagine how normal people see this) As a druggy caught up in my addictions I couldn't understand why this guy didn't want to give us our money back - he just had to get it.
Anyhow he did and we were able to afford an attorney. Not that they didn't have me red handed, but I still needed representation. The police were still trying to cut a deal with me, but I wasn't buying it so to court we went. Thankfully I had some good people that cared enough about me to give me another chance, not my second but another.
In talking with my attorney we found that it was actually a good thing that we dipped into those bags that night before passing them on. Not that I would ever endorse using drugs again but the police are very crafty. They asked for two grams of coke in each of those buys. Yes that's what I sold them but not before taking my little share. The law at the time stipulated that for that amount of drug trafficking that you would receive a mandatory two year sentence in a state prison of their choice. I had two counts against me so that would have meant four years of jail time somewhere far away from home.
Because of the reduced amounts my attorney was able to get me confined to the local county jail with a sentence of 11 1/2 to 23 months. My employer also went to bat for me big time and convinced the judge that he couldn't run his business without me, so they allowed the work release program. Go to work during the day and back to jail at night. We also got the hearing pushed back so I could be around for the birth of our son.
When he was four months old he and my beautiful wife dropped me off at the front door of the prison. Deb with tears in her eyes and Trevor just smiling away as he always did not having a clue were daddy was going. It would be a year of loneliness for both Deb and I but we managed. Her and Trevor would visit me at work which of course was against the rules and we only got caught once near the end of my sentence so they didn't punish me too terribly. They would show up on the weekends to visit me at jail where we actually taught our baby how to walk in the jailhouse visiting room. I was there for our first wedding anniversary too which just added to the despair but we got through it.
Thanks to God for once again lining up all the cards to make the best out of a bad situation, thanks to Deb for standing by my side and my boss for going to bat. To my mom for allowing Deb and Trev to stay with her while I was away. It was a crazy year but one we'll never forget and I'm happy to say the last year of my life that I would spend behind bars.

Living The Life You Always Wanted

I don't know about you but I've found as I go through my daily activities a little pick me up always seems to come in handy. No, I'm not talking about the pick me up of days gone by but rather the boost of spending a few minutes each day with a good book. Or popping in a CD that fills me up with the right information I need to get me to my goals. I'm talking about information that can help both you and I lead the types of lives that we want to live, the lives that God intended us to live.

Information that focuses on the 8 F's of LIFE. Information on faith, family, finances, fitness, following, freedom, friends and fun. Information from best selling authors and from successful people who are right now living their dreams.

If you would like to learn more about how to improve in any of these areas, or just maybe how to be a better leader in your business or family then check out the link below. If you see something you like let me know and I can get you some info to check out.

LIFE - Living Intentionally For Excellence

PS: Check out the short video that's posted on the site - it could be the best 5 minutes you've ever spent.