I have been sharing some good news here lately! After my friend Sheilia told me that she has been nine years cancer free, I wondered what other good news was out there. I started asking friends and family if they had something good going on and I have received a few responses! This year has been rough for a lot of people with COVID, the changes in daily living, and the overall concern for the health of our country. I’m thankful for the stories shared and the permission to write about them for you to read.

MaLinda and I have been friends for twenty five years. I met her the same time I met Sheilia in church in Washington State. I was a young newlywed joining my husband in the church where he was a member. She and I hit it off right away, especially since we both loved singing. We sang in the choir together and then later, I was invited to join her and another friend in a ladies’ trio. I learned so much about music from MaLinda and Anita and I loved being a part of the group. We called ourselves “Higher Praise” and even made a cassette tape of the songs we sang. We have kept in touch and have been able to visit with one another in person throughout the years.

“Well, my sister is better. Recovering from COVID, ” she wrote. “My job is letting me work full time again and all my kids and grands are happy and healthy! Don’t know what more I could ask for.” She then mentioned the transformation in her oldest daughter. In August of 2010, twenty-seven year old Amanda was arrested for meth possession with the intent to distribute. She wasn’t even the one the police were after in a drug bust going on when she was caught. She had an unpaid parking ticket and had a warrant out for her arrest. She was sentenced to federal prison for thirty months, but spent twenty months instead. Four months were in a halfway house and two months in home confinement. Amanda was granted three years probation but was let off ten months early for doing everything she was supposed to do. She said being arrested saved her life.

“My advice for parents is to watch your kids and their friends”, MaLinda contributed. “Be a parent, not a friend. It’s hard because no one wants to be the bad guy. Parents don’t want to invade their privacy…too bad. I hope that her story helps save some mammas out there some heartache.”

MaLinda was looking through old files trying to remember the trial and came across e-mails begging Amanda to get help and telling her that her kids (an almost nine year old and a seven year old) need her. “The worst day of my life was when I went to court and had to see her in shackles and cuffs”, MaLinda shared. Some of the details are a little fuzzy now for her and Amanda and hard to remember. Time, healing, and moving forward has a huge part in that.

Amanda’s road to trouble didn’t start right before she went to prison, but she has now been clean and sober for eight and half years! She turned her life around and is doing great now. She would love to share her story someday in churches or wherever she can to hopefully help keep someone from making the same mistakes she did. And MaLinda would love to put it on a billboard because there are so many out there with addictions.

“We had a lot of people praying for her”, MaLinda commented. When I asked her if I could share these photos, she said I could and that they remind her to not give up. It took longer than they wanted for things to change, but God answered their prayers.

First photo: Left – (2012, the day she was arrested) Right– (2018) Middle photo: – her kids visiting in California Last photo: A more recent picture

Other “Tell Me Something Good” entries: Sheilia’s Story Michelle’s Story