A Contagious Smile Podcast
Stop surviving and start thriving. A Contagious Smile is a globally ranked podcast providing a safe haven for abuse survivors and special needs families navigating the journey of trauma recovery. Whether you are healing from domestic violence, narcissistic abuse, childhood trauma, or the daily challenges of disability advocacy, our mission is to turn your pain into power.
Each episode features raw, authentic conversations with survivors, mental health experts, and advocates who share actionable resources for PTSD healing, resilience building, and emotional wellness. We go beyond the struggle to highlight the triumphs of the special needs community, offering support for caregivers and individuals with disabilities who are rewriting their own narratives.
Hosted by Victoria Cuore, an award-winning trauma advocate and survivor, this podcast delivers the "blueprints" for recovery—not just Band-Aids. Join our community to find hope, humor, and the unstoppable spirit needed to rekindle your inner light.
A Contagious Smile Podcast
Surviving and Thriving: A Family's Journey Through Trauma
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Welcome to Unstoppable
Speaker 1There's a superstar here. My wife is awesome. And here we are another episode of Take a Smile Unstoppable with Michael and the sexy co-host. Can I call you co-host?
Speaker 2I don't care. Why don't you call me?
Speaker 1Are you serious? Yeah, let me call her again.
Speaker 2I'm not calling you. I'm sure you are. Hi everyone. Hello, Are you really going to dial my phone?
Speaker 1That is my ringtone for my husband, Hi y'all Welcome back to Unstoppable with Victoria and Michael.
Speaker 2Howdy y'all?
Speaker 1welcome back to Unstoppable with Victoria and Michael, we are almost into the next month.
Speaker 2September.
Speaker 1Which is my wife's birthday. Yay, which should be 2019.
Speaker 2Hey, it's also the anniversary of my rebirth from my education, which was September. What Remember? Do you remember? No, okay, I'll give you a hint. It's my favorite number.
Speaker 1What's my favorite number? I don't know. 17? No 8? Yes. 18? No 8? Yes.
Speaker 2See.
Speaker 1I was right on the money, whatever September 8th is my anniversary.
Speaker 2It'll be three years since they whack-a-mole my arm. I can say that because it's amazing, can I just tell you, hold on that. And then the same week, squirrel. The same week this year I'm having another life-altering surgery. Okay, can we give it a? It's bad when your surgeon says what's your New Year's resolution? And I say you're staying off the arm table and he taps my shoulder and says you really need to make your resolution something you can achieve. It's funny. It's not funny. I don't even know why that's not funny.
Speaker 1Which surgeon was this?
Speaker 2The one from Australia. Oh yeah, so I'm just saying this month.
Speaker 1Yes, let's go back to which surgery?
Speaker 2So much. And then we had this massive surgery and we have the release of our master class and our newest book, dear Silent. My husband is just starting to look at it. What are your thoughts so far?
Speaker 1my god, for our listeners and those of y'all who have written in. We did have a cut off date because we just got unedated with a horde of stories, testimonials and my God some of them were so heartbreaking All of them were heartbreaking we couldn't read them.
Upcoming Surgery and Book Release
Speaker 1We read them. Heartbreaking, we couldn't read them. We read them. But it was so hard. These are true life events. These are people's lives. They condensed it down to a page and a half, maybe a page, a couple paragraphs. My God, some of these are coming from children. You really know what it's like to see through the eyes of a child and then have them remember this years later, as they're grownups, and to write it down, whereas back then they couldn't say anything. Right, because that's mom and dad, or that's mom instead of dad, or whomever, right?
Speaker 2But you didn't get very far into it when you read it, you didn't stop.
Speaker 1Yeah, I've got through about 10 pages and then, yeah, it's overwhelming y'all. This is going to be a great super fantastic book compiled by just hundreds of people out there listening, and we thank y'all. This is a wise idea.
Speaker 2All the money is going to go back to helping these amazing individuals heal, because healing shouldn't come with a price tag. It shouldn't, and it's going to go hand in hand with no but a master class that I've been working on creating and waiting for my husband to say something I created, part one of a map mapping, if you will, today um it's a 23 lesson course.
Speaker 2It's course one of how to prepare to leave. Leaving isn't easy is what it's called, and it really goes into the whole scenario, which just flat out pisses me off when people say why didn't you just leave like you know? Why don't you just shut the hell up? You don't know what it's like right.
Speaker 2It's like I've never had cancer, by the grace of god. I couldn't fathom what it's like to be a cancer survivor, and I wouldn't. I wouldn't even try to pretend to imagine what it's like to go through having cancer, so don't try to figure out what it's like to be a survivor of abuse because I'm not going to put myself in your shoes because I can't wear them and you can't wear mine. So don't just look at somebody and say, why didn't you just leave? That's like asking a cancer patient why?
Speaker 2didn't you just get off Right? I could never do that to somebody. I couldn't ask that question. And one of the things I, honest to God, cannot tell you how many times I've heard white news, and it wasn't just from so-called family, so-called friends when does my husband go? It's also from individuals that really and truly had no business asking that kind of question, like, for instance, when I was being interrogated left, right and center during this process.
Speaker 2In the beginning I was being interrogated by military, military police, cid, you name it and everybody would ask me why didn't you just leave? And how do you answer that to somebody? I mean, you know, no matter where you go, people don't just leave you. That's like the number one question that falls out of their face.
"Why Didn't You Just Leave?"
Speaker 1Can I go there? Sure, okay, I was that idiot, I was that jerk, I was that asshole that asked you asked me yeah, okay, so I was a cop, right? So you asked me husband. Several times, a lot of times they don't arrest Okay.
Speaker 2So I'm going to arrest him tonight because I see a handprint on your face.
Speaker 1I see bruising. I see defensive wounds on him. The house is trashed up. Looks like you got some broken pieces of glass on your elbow. I'm going to arrest him and I'm going to ask you to leave.
Speaker 2Okay, but you're going to incarcerate him and make me leave too.
Speaker 1Right, I'm going to say this is your time, because he's going to be in jail. Okay, don't go bail him out, don't go post bond and just leave.
Speaker 2Just pack your bags and leave. It's not that simple to do that quickly.
Speaker 1I don't understand.
Speaker 2Just pack up some things.
Speaker 1Right now you don't have kids, you have a dog. Pack up your dog, grab some of your clothes, but you know, at some point I'm going to have to return.
Speaker 2Why Just file for divorce? But how do I do that when he controls all the money?
Speaker 1Well, while he's in jail, go ahead and delete your account. There's so much more to it than that it's not that easy.
Speaker 2It's not that easy. I mean, I'm the one who's the victim. Why do I have to leave? Why do I have to do everything to convenience him? I mean the car bars. He has total control of everything. How do I do that?
Speaker 1I mean, where do I?
Speaker 2go anywhere I go, he's gonna find me and it's gonna just infuriate him to hold it alone and then it's gonna happen again. If I'm gonna leave, I have to do it smartly. That's why the average person goes back seven times, because they don't have a plan in place. You know when. And I hate to say, but my memoir who Kicked First really goes into almost a handbook of it. In its own way, it details in depth how I got out and honestly it was tricky. It was very tricky of how I got away, Because every time I kept going to authorities and showing more proof, showing more evidence. All I kept hearing is why are you making him angry? Why can't you just do what he wants? And then he won't do this. That's a load of shit, and I said this time and time again. Everything can be hunky dory. And then his side piece says I can't see you tonight, or somebody cuts him off on the way home from work or he gets in trouble for something, and I promise you your
Speaker 2body is his battleground the minute he walks in the door. That's what's gonna happen. And so then, after having so much evidence, I kept hearing why do you have so much proof? Why do you have this overwhelming amount of proof? Because nobody's doing anything to protect my life and my unborn child's life, because I was pregnant when all this happened. So this is what I would hear. Well, why do you keep doing this? Why do you have so much proof? Because nobody's believing me, nobody's doing anything to help me stay safe or to protect my child.
Speaker 2You know the military has something called the transitional compensation fund, right? How would I know this if I wasn't told about it, right? So I was a civilian. I had no idea. I went to the advocacy center time and time again. I had the business card. I had the advocate's name and her personal cell phone number on it. And time again, I had the business card. I had the advocate's name and her personal cell phone number on it and her writing.
Speaker 2And later down the road, I get told I thought you were taken care of. You must have fallen through the cracks. So then they tell you oh, there's a transitional compensation fund where we help the youth. Do you know how much I got of it? Not a penny, not a dime. But here's the thing as a police officer, you wouldn't know how to do a vehicular pullover unless you've been trained and you've gone through it. How would a civilian know about transitional compensation if she wasn't given the information? I had the freaking pamphlets from the military in possession that showed all of the options that are out there for someone going through this in domestic violence, and I got zero assistance.
Speaker 1Zero, so they acknowledge it to the degree that, hey, here's a place where you can get help.
Speaker 2A lot of times it's covered up in the military. It's the's a place where you can get help. A lot of times it's covered up in the military. It's the good old boy syndrome in its own way Because it could go all the way up to the chain of command. And when I went to the base commander with my private investigator after I had escaped, they openly stated they knew about what was going on with me and we had a document, we had it recorded and still, and I have to be very careful- because I have signed a nondisclosure, because I did pursue litigation and we won't.
Speaker 2And it's not an exorbitant amount of money because there's a cap on it.
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 2But I wanted our daughter to always know you fight for what's right and you never give up right.
Speaker 2And I wanted to hold accountable those that should have been. Did they get held accountable? No, they retired with full benefits and received all the bullshit that they get. Idiot gets full pension or whatever. He wasn't in a full term or whatever it's called. What did I get? Nothing? Nothing, not one thing. And that's the reason that this two-part series is coming um about. Leaving isn't that easy. It's not, and it pisses me off because so many people are so quick to judge when they're outside the window looking in, but they're too afraid to come in and help. Right, it's real easy to open your mouth and say whatever you want to say, but doing something to support someone and help them get out of a possible life-threatening situation is different. And let me tell you and this is recorded and it goes out to millions and millions of people- and I will stand firmly with what I'm about to say.
Speaker 2God forbid someone put a hand on my face, because I'm not going to be the bitch outside the window. I promise you that it's just not going to happen. You lay your hands on our child. That's all I'm going to say, and I'm not putting you on a threat, I'm putting you on a promise Because as parents, we are rightfully so able to protect and defend our family and our children. Then most people don't know me as well as they should, and I heard a lot of people ask me you have multiple black belts. You are trained in martial arts. Why didn't you just beat the hell out of them and get away right? One of the first things you learn and you learn in the police academy is de-escalation, first and foremost, right right off the bat.
Speaker 2de-escalate, get away when you are straddled in your sleep with this son of a bitch on top of you and you're pregnant and he's beating you in the face left, right and center to tell you bitch, get up and go get me something to drink, I'm thirsty, you know. De-escalation is not possible at that moment when the one time. One time you try to leave, he shoots and kills your puppy to show you what he would do if you left. You know you've got to be real smart to get out and survive real smart. So de-escalation doesn't always work.
Speaker 2I will tell you that my martial art training saved my life, because I know that some people might think and I would love your input on this.
Speaker 2Some people might think this is like lackadoodle for me to say, but anybody with any martial art training will relate. When you are going through and doing your training and moving up in rank, you spar and you work on your katas and your forearm, but you spar against other martial artists and when you're getting punched, you're getting kicked, you're getting hit, you're learning how to take it is what it is and so many times I had to psychologically put myself back in like a dojo mindset because I'm pregnant, right, and it's just, it's a hit.
The Reality of Abuse Survival
Speaker 2It's just a hit and I openly admit that I made a deal with the devil. I told him if he never went after my stomach my child at that time I would not fight him back because I knew there was no way I was going to get out and survive. There was no way. I was in the ICU too many times, I was at death's door too many times and I knew I had one chance that I would actually be able to get out and survive One, and so I could heal with a broken nose.
Speaker 2I could heal from a broken jaw Not pleasantly, but I could. I could heal from broken foot, you know, broken fingers, whatever, I wasn't going to lose my daughter. I just wasn't going to. And so so many people gave me crap about the fact that, well, you have all this martial arts training, why didn't you just kick his ass? Well, it's not as easy as people think. It's different. If you are approached out in public and somebody tries to jump you, absolutely you can defend yourself but, like I said, when you're asleep and you're pregnant and you're already healing from other injuries and you just watched your puppy get shot and killed.
Speaker 2And every time you try to show somebody that there's an injury and they just kind of laugh in your face you do become that battered, beaten, just inverted person that doesn't believe in themselves, that doesn't believe in the idea of ever being free again. Your self-esteem goes in the toilet it's tanked. You know, control becomes like his every way of life, financial control, and I made five times a year what he did, if not more, but it doesn't matter, because you say anything that's out of line and violence is coming your way.
Speaker 1And y'all excuse me, that was just a small snippet of her story. We read so many stories like hers. And you know, you find out the reason why. Why can't I leave? Why couldn't I leave? Why didn't we leave? Y'all go to Amazon and pick up her book by Victoria Curie, who Keeps First, and be on the lookout for this one coming in October.
Speaker 2The one thing I want to bring up that I think is and I think you did, I think I read this one to you is at first I didn't understand. It was a child who and it is in the book talks about how much they hated her books. Right, I hated my mom my entire childhood. I didn't know why I hated her because she wouldn't leave. Right, she wouldn't leave. You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2And it goes on and on about how this child had to watch their mom get beaten constantly and ends up towards the end where they realize that, this mother that they made miserable their whole childhood because they hated their mom so much, ended up realizing that the reason she stayed was for the kids and a lot of people say that because the mom was petrified that if she left, yes, she would be free, yes, she would be protected, but so many times, as I even heard at one point in court when I said to the judge I'm going after termination of rights and the judge says, well, he hasn't hit the baby, not yet, but it's coming, right, it's coming.
Speaker 2And I said he's not going to be alone there again. He already hurt her. He already hurt her and I would be damned if I'm going to let it happen again. But the story of this individual that wrote in was I hated my mom and then I realized that she knew if she left every other weekend I'd be alone and she couldn't protect me. What an eye opening.
Speaker 1right, right, it's a huge eye opening but then you had that story that put out um here recently about that so-called father. He wasn't a father.
Speaker 2The one who killed his two-day-old baby. Oh God, it just makes me so angry. You know, having kids is a privilege, you know. It makes me sick because some people do it for government assistance, because they get so much money. Not everybody Some right. Then you have people who have waited their whole life to have children and they can't, for whatever reason. And then you have people who have absolutely no business having kids. None Right, Absolutely none.
Speaker 2And you know, in Alabama they started doing chemical castration on pedophiles when they're released, on pedophiles when they're released, and of course people went up in arms how that is inhumane to do to someone who has been rehabilitated.
Speaker 2Well, first of all, we all know you're not rehabilitated right. Second of all, when you come out and you have touched children, I don't believe you have the right to have a child. And people are like, well, that's their right, they have right to have kids. And people are like, well, that's their right, they have the right to have kids. No, they don't. No, they don't. I mean, why should they be able to have a kid?
Speaker 2yeah, I agree do you think chemical castration is inhumane no, it's not harsh enough and then they're told they can't be around uh schoolyards or schools or playgrounds the people say that's not fair we even had a pedophile on our show and he argued that there shouldn't be a sex registry, that the money should be used to help them and if they want to hang around a school or playground they should be able to. But do you remember what he said that really just floored the both of us about?
Speaker 1we asked what would happen if his child, if he ever had a child.
Speaker 2Oh my God, what an idiot If he ever had a child and that child was abused. Do you remember what he said? Yeah, what did he say?
Speaker 1That he would try to provide therapy for the abuser with his child in the room.
Speaker 2Yes, I lost my shit. Are you kidding me? I did it. You're going to re-assault that kid. That kid's going to get re-assaulted. And then there's dad, who's supposed to be the protector, who's supposed to be the one to protect the child, and you're bringing this person and monster into their home where your home is supposed to be your safe place.
Speaker 2It's supposed to be the place that you're your safest and you know that you're your safest and you know that you are loved and taken care of, and then you bring this monster into the home. That just doesn't even make any sense to me.
Speaker 1At all Yep. So we haven't had any more maps on our show Right, and then I was told that we had to identify him as a map, not a pedophile, that's right.
Speaker 2Do you remember what maps was the acronym?
Speaker 1for minor attractive person that's disgusting.
Speaker 2That's disgusting, you know. I mean, I'm sorry. Kids can be adorable, cute, beautiful, handsome, but how are you intimately attracted to a minor child, like you know, and I guess we won't understand this? We're not that way, we're not wired that way, but you know, and then I have to touch base for a minute, like all of georgia, thanks to the governor um brian kent just put flags at halfast for the shootings that transpired in the Catholic church.
Speaker 2But, here's the thing the person that came out, his mom was a teacher in a school, okay, and I've seen mixed reports, but he was going through a transformation. He was trans, right, right. But what I don't get is and I've seen this so many times when I read the background of these people who go in there with their manifestos and what they want to do to the schools, and a lot of them, especially this guy. This guy was obsessed with call of duty. He was playing it constantly and he thought, because he could just freely run around and shoot people on a game that was his reality, he could go and do it in this place and then these young, innocent children are killed. They'll never get to have their graduation.
Speaker 2Or they won't get to have a wedding or go to prom or do all the things that they have every right to do and who? The hell are these people to take that away from them? Who are these people who can just go up into a Walmart and just randomly stab people for no reason? It happens in Target, it happens everywhere. Now, you see, it's constant that this is happening.
Speaker 2You know, you see, it's it's constant that this is happening there's bomb we saw three bomb threat scares in elementary schools in the last two weeks. Yeah, elementary school, the school are you kidding that? That to me doesn't even begin to make any sense to me what the hell is going on in this country and so many people are blaming trump. This didn't just happen with Trump. Columbine didn't happen under Trump's administration, right? So how are people blaming him? I mean, come on now, you know, and it's like people find amusement in the most disgusting, darkest ways. And until you're in that situation, still still, and you know, here's the thing my husband has, in the last several, several years, become very sensitive to certain things. Like we gone out to dinner and we see a beautiful family trying to have dinner and they have a child who's autistic or a child who has Down syndrome or something like that Everybody's staring at this kid.
Speaker 2But you know what? They're beautiful family. They have every right to go out for a dinner. They have every right to eat a pizza, right, and these people don't care. Well, like now, all over social media are these two hoo-ha clowns that are like hey, you know, people say that the disabled don't get a fair chance, but if you have a woman and only has one leg, she can always go to work at IHOP. That's not funny. I don't find that even remotely funny.
Speaker 2I wouldn't find it funny if I wasn't an amputee and I damn sure don't find it funny now that I am an amputee.
Speaker 1So how am I sensitive?
Speaker 2Because you acknowledge these families and you go up and you talk to them and you offer our academy, you tell them about Sucko Squad and it's just. You know, why does everybody have to be so?
Speaker 1negative I do Whenever I approach this family and say hey, we have a show that we would love to have you come on. I've seen so many bright smiles and it's just lit up their day. You know of that child and you know the parents are glad, but that smile on that kid's face it makes it worth it.
Speaker 2Do you remember when we were invited to Eric's birthday party and we had him on the show and he was in Audible and he tried to sing? It was the sweetest thing ever. I mean, he was a great kid, but it's just these families. You know. You have no idea what it's like. I mean none. Don't even for the minute start to wonder. You know you might miss your tennis game or your.
Speaker 2Whatever the case may be, we're hoping to have a day off from a therapy. You know, we have physical therapy, we have feeding therapy, we have speech therapy, occupational therapy, you know. Then you have all these other things. You have to go through and implement them in throughout the day, but there's not one thing we would change, because that's our child and we love our kids wholeheartedly and unconditionally. But the people out there that are so quick and judgmental on people, that are out there making a difference.
Speaker 2First of all, I've noticed that and I hate the term special needs, I think it's wrong. Everybody has their own needs, right, everybody has their own needs. We're not disabled, we just have obstacles. We have different obstacles to go over, but it gives us a path most people would never see. When I'm in the grocery store line, I will wait and go in line with someone I know that has an obstacle to overcome, right, and I tell them take your time, and I'll even slow down putting stuff on the cart be like look, I'm one-handed it's gonna take me a minute, you know because,
Speaker 2they're doing their best. They are, first of all. They're out there doing a job. They're making a living doing what they can. You know, good for you. You're out there doing something. You know, if you're out there even bagging groceries and you take it out and take it to the vehicle, good for you, you are doing something. And then you have these assholes that are out there going oh, you go work. But you know what Misery loves company, and it is these poor pricks that are out there belittling the very people that will smile at you and try to make you have a better day because you are being a dick or an ass. Excuse, my, I get a little she gets carried away.
Speaker 2I don't say carried away. It's the fact that, like I, I love our community wholeheartedly, but so many people are so quick to be like man, I just had a hard day, I want a beer. And I gotta listen to this kid with who's autistic in the next table, or can I move? And it's like yeah, well, you have an issue with the fact that they're having a celebration and they're not having dinner, but you know what you're about to drink. You might have another one and another one, and then you're putting my family in harm's way because you just can't go home and crack a beer open at home and leave the keys on the counter. So you might be, you know, making a mess of more than just yourself, but they still seem to think that's OK.
Speaker 2And it's not. You have a choice.
Speaker 1You made a comment earlier about you know they don't. They don't know what it's like. They haven't walked in your shoes, don't know what it's like, so to speak, they haven't walked in your shoes. They have no idea what patience is until they've sat with a spoon for how many hours.
Speaker 2I'd sit there six eight hours a day and not move, just hoping that she'd take her first bite.
Speaker 1Just let our daughter eat one bite, that's right.
Speaker 2Every day. And they told me she'd never eat this kid, okay. Oh, they told me she'd never eat this cake, okay.
Speaker 1She would never eat.
Faith's Journey and Medical Challenges
Speaker 2So she just had a plate bowl full of my husband's homemade I don't know garlicky potato, like soft potato thing, whatever, and he put together a whole bowl. She had a large mozzarella sticks marinara, then she had saute whole bowl. She had a large mozzarella sticks marinara, then she had sauteed onions and then she had some chicken and like a whole bunch of stuff. Right, this kid who was told she would never walk, she would never talk, she would never eat, she would never be able to do anything, has won an Emmy. Kiss my ass to all those people who said she wouldn't, would never be able to do anything. Has won an Emmy. Kiss my ass to all those people who said she would never be able to do. 99.999% of the things that she said she couldn't do, and she does them all better than anyone who ever opened her trap mouth. That's all I'm going to say. I always have something to say.
Speaker 1You know a lot of. That is, I believe, most of that comes from her drive, but her inspiration is you. You know, and then you know. Say that Then there's me.
Speaker 2My inspiration. Why would you say that?
Speaker 1I'm a dog.
Speaker 2It's not a dog, that's my stuff.
Speaker 1That's my stuff. Yeah, she gets her motivation from you. So if you hadn't been there, I wouldn't have done 75% of what she's accomplished? I don't think so. She woke up to what, hearing your voice.
Speaker 2Hearing me sing.
Speaker 1Hearing you sing, that would wake anybody up.
Speaker 2That would wake anybody up. Well, easy, breezy, okay no you sound like an angel, whatever. But the thing is is, yeah, they tell you don't stimulate. You can't stimulate when they're in a medically induced oh no, but you know what, you can talk to them you can sing to them, you can read to them, you can have dad rub their feet with a lotion I got that on video and the thing is is that, like they told?
Speaker 2me she would never and we went into the feeding program and six weeks of stupidness and we stayed in contact with everybody that was a family that did this program at the same time and everyone went back on the feeding tube. She ate through a feeding tube for 80% of her life. Right, and I knew she'd eat, I knew she'd talk, and so because she had what's called a proxia, where you can't say certain things like B, p, n.
Speaker 2So instead of saying I need because the tongue goes to the roof of your mouth and she couldn't do that I taught her to say I want. So the tongue doesn't move, so it might not make sense to some people. I want a pencil instead of I need a pencil, right, she would do that. She also signed from like months old on, because she needed to be able to tell me what she needed. And she had a trach, and when you have a trait, you are inaudible unless you have a passive ear valve on right so she couldn't speak and I didn't get to hear her voice.
Speaker 2So I taught her the signs for simple things that she needed and when she finally could talk. After she got that out and she had a proxy, so a lot of her speech was inaudible. I always understood her, but we changed some words around and, yes, everybody knows faith.
Speaker 2Now she's a major smart Alec, and so instead she would get away with things with the doctors when she, instead of saying but she's so cute, when she would get away with things with the doctors when she, instead of saying but she's so cute when she would say but she didn't say but because it would kind of up Right. So she would say ask Right, and they would get really mad and she's like well, they understood me, touche. You know, the kid goes through so much I'm not going to say a word.
Speaker 1you know about the fact that somebody is going to be that territorial and be rude.
Speaker 2And you're going to stare at her. You know she had a trach or whatever. She was a year, year and a half old and I had to go to the drugstore and this lady's like, oh my God, she has a hole in her neck, I'm not missing a beat.
Speaker 2Faith just shot her fingers and I'm missing a beat Faith just shot her fingers and she's like, are you going to let her do that? And I said, actually my hands are full. Yeah, I am. Yeah, it's the number one thing is she's going to always stick up for herself.
Speaker 2You know you're miserable and you're going to stay miserable. She's adorable, she's sweet, cute, always adorable. So you know, and people today are so unhappy they're so miserable in their lives. You know, put the damn phone down. I can't stand watching my husband TikTok scroll. It drives me out of my brain. Like he goes to the toilet, sits on his throne and for 30 minutes. He is rolling, freaking TikTok. I can't stand it.
Speaker 1I'm making a masterpiece.
Speaker 2I don't give a shit, it takes time Literally, but do it without I'm making a masterpiece. It takes time Literally. Watch the time you cut in half. I don't do it. I don't do it, it's because you have rabbit turds.
Speaker 1You'll drop logs. Oh my God, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2People are so obsessed with their phones they're more in love with their phones than they are their significant other more in love with their phones than spending time with their family.
Speaker 2Cause people would rather be on those stupid phones and I guarantee you, in three, four, five years you won't know anybody you're talking to now, because everybody's just addicted to this crap. It's ridiculous and you know what? Social media has been proven to be as much of a addiction as cocaine is any of the other drugs. People are addicted to social media and it is an addiction. It is a true addiction and, yes, I'm looking at you.
Speaker 1It is a true addiction and yes, I'm looking at you.
Speaker 2I don't do cocaine, no, but you do social media.
Speaker 1I do, I do, I do, I do, I do.
Speaker 2And it drives me. How can you look at me so tired? You slept 99% of the day.
Speaker 1today I took a small nap. That's how it works.
Speaker 2Several naps. No, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1You don't think I worked today.
Speaker 2Not really.
Speaker 1How do you figure?
Speaker 2Okay, so you slept for like almost two hours and then you were a bear and then you stayed up for like 45 minutes and you went back to sleep until after dinner time.
Speaker 1No, I accidentally passed out on the roof.
Speaker 2Like here's the thing you promised to swear to me that we would repaint the kitchen by the end of today.
Speaker 1No, the weekend includes Monday.
Speaker 2No, it doesn't. You've had the last six days off because I love having you here. But the problem is that you said I have a honeybee list before this major surgery coming up and I got stuff to get done and we got it done. Social media.
Speaker 1What about it?
Speaker 2That's my new term for your own crack. Oh, that's my go-to term now Social media, because none of it's gotten good.
Speaker 1What turned out? Social media, because none of it's gotten good.
Speaker 2What would you like to go through the list? No, but then listen to what I do. So my daughter wants cheese sticks, right, and so my husband's making hamburger, my daughter making hamburgers for dinner, daughter Making hamburgers for dinner. So I go and get him onion rings, I get her cheese sticks and I get them a strawberry shake and I get my little salad. See, I'm always trying to take care of my family and making them happy and giving them all the things that they need and want without having to ask for them.
Speaker 1What does that have to do with social media?
Speaker 2See you're thinking about your addiction again. What about my dick?
Speaker 1We're on air babe, you can't use that word. I can say dick. That's the third time you've said it. Okay, night, son, whoops.
Speaker 2Faith sent me the greatest thing. Why?
Speaker 1do little girls not fart, because they don't get what was the end of it they don't get assholes until they get married, so we've had a plethora of people joining our Mighty Networks Academy. Thank y'all, everyone who's joined the Academy. I try to reach out to most of you and welcome you into the Academy. I've seen a lot of y'all hop right on the courses and we'd like to know what you think of those courses.
Speaker 1So reach out to us under Contact Us and let us know If we need improvement. Let us know my wife will get it right on it.
Speaker 2Do you see how he delegates that to me? Because I'm the president. The CEO is over the president. I founded this company when you were with, not me.
Speaker 1Well then, why am I the boss?
Speaker 2No, I made you my bitch. I mean, I made you the president, which means you're underneath me, but I'm giving you orders. I don't think so, faye.
Speaker 1If there's something wrong with the academy, I'm going to tell you to fix it. How would you know if you're not?
Speaker 2really over on it.
Speaker 1And then my people's going to tell me.
Speaker 2How would you know if you're not really on it? And then what are you going to do? You've gone through A hundred and twenty-eight of them. No, you haven't. I can tell you, because I can go on and see which ones you've ever logged on to. Hi Faith.
Speaker 1Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2Say hi, hello. So he says that he's my boss because the president is over the CEO.
Speaker 2No, yeah, you're my underling, and I was talking earlier about how hard it is for some people who go through abuse when they're looking out the window and they're looking inside, they don't do anything to help people, and I was like I'm just going to put it out there. God forbid somebody got dumb enough to try to put their hands on you because I won't be outside that window. Who are you more afraid of? Somebody meeting you? What, why, what? I'm going to talk to him after we go to bed.
Speaker 1Oh what.
Speaker 2You have to say it what. I'm much better with knives. That's not funny? No, it's not funny I'm going to talk to. I was listening to you, did you just say I'm old? No, she said you're not as good of a shot as me, right, because?
Speaker 1I'm old, I've got more gray hair now, did you?
Social Media Addiction Discussion
Speaker 2know, wait, wait, wait, did he at least hit the target. I'm not old. Our daughter hit the bullseye three times out of three. How many times did you hit it One?
Speaker 1Faith. Our budget is limited. You may be dismissed.
Speaker 2Uh-uh, what is it?
Speaker 1You can't say, mom, that's about the company. The president is over the CEO.
Speaker 2The CEO is the person who created Thames. I was the founder of a contagious smile 20 years ago. Then you and I, you got your head out your ass and you went back to where you belong, Decided to start by branching out into an academy. You were offered the position of president, which was offered by the CEO which was me and you accepted.
Speaker 1So you work for me and ladies and gentlemen, look how far we've come since I've jumped on board and you accept it, so you work for me. And, ladies and gentlemen, look how far we've come since I've jumped on board. This ought to be good.
Speaker 2Who won an Emmy? Wait, not you. Oh, am I good? Who's published books? I don't know.
Speaker 1I've been there to support you Like what I've edited those books.
Speaker 2How many books of mine have you read? Silence?
Speaker 1Like cover to cover.
Speaker 2Even the inside of I already know the answers, so try very carefully.
Speaker 1It must be at least one, which one did you read Kevin Nart Nart.
Speaker 2You didn't read the whole thing.
Speaker 1No I edited it.
Speaker 2I'm glad. Bye Faith. No, she can be a mess, it's a family thing, right? Yeah, what's the latest prank you did on him? That was pretty funny.
Speaker 1I don't know One of you a-holes put ice in my chair the other day and I sat down on it oh. So what? I had a big wet spot like I peed myself.
Speaker 2Well, you have cracked out your pants I have.
Speaker 1What's it going to do with my age?
Speaker 2I'm going to get you some of the pens, so I'm not doing a thing. So let's just say I asked more of him. Oh yeah, let's tell everybody how Can we do it now? I don't, I would, but I don't want him to figure it out and I'm still killing. Oh, he's so far behind, we don't have anything to worry about.
Speaker 1Can we tell?
Speaker 2I was hoping to tell a new game a lot. I don't know if I'm going to win. I'm going to play a new game. I don't know how to play a new game, so they compete in what I Hate, which is video games. Really, and so he's been playing this new game while she's been playing this other game that they've been playing against each other. And he has been time consumed on the new game he's played, which faith loves and has been encouraging him to do because that puts her even further ahead.
Speaker 2So what level are you on? Um, I'll have a cut. I think almost 56, 56, and how much money, 56. And how much money? 5 million, 5 million. And you're on level 4? 48. And you have what? 300,000. Seriously, you'll buy all mine and we'll spend the money when I be spending it.
Speaker 1Yeah, see, I taught you well.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah. You did give me an amazing comment the other day about how I'm just going to forbid you.
Speaker 1Every day I look at you and tell you how beautiful you are.
Speaker 2You're a liar, wait a minute. She better defend me I didn't hear you Dinner, dinner Tonight.
Speaker 1I thought I was going to look at you dinner tonight. No, it's not one night, it's all the time. Defend me, woman who's? On top CEO or president, you can be on top. I'm the boss. No, you're not. No, you're not.
Speaker 2Who is the boss? No, you're not. No, you're not. Who is the boss?
Speaker 1Mom, I say that to you all the time because you didn't hear it before.
Speaker 2So you only say it because you feel like.
Speaker 1I missed out on it.
Speaker 2You feel the need to fill in a blank.
Speaker 1No, great yeah. If you just pull out and leave me get out of your face, but hold on.
Speaker 2He gave an amazing compliment about how articulate you are and how smart you are, because she has been writing the most amazing works and some of her works are coming up in the steer silence book and she has literally been writing the most beautiful things. She wrote a song which was amazing. I didn't ask you to she's written some of them just like your mom.
Speaker 2Amazing. Wow, it's some of the most amazing poems and stories. Wow, it's some of the most amazing poems and stories. And so he made the comment of how articulate she is and how amazing she sounds and creative. That's right.
Speaker 1Yep.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1So hopefully one day we'll publish a book or three, or five by her, including her.
Speaker 2Who would write the book cover? Who would create the book cover?
Speaker 1Mom, she actually wrote a song the other night.
Speaker 2That is awesome. We already talked about that. Yeah, what's something embarrassing about your dad? Nothing.
Speaker 1He doesn't snore, thank you all for listening to A Thing to Smile. Here we go, he snores.
Speaker 2When he snores, I'm scared, he snores, I'm scared Really One of his parents. He snuck out and was put in a nursing house. Really, he doesn't either. His mother or father made him sleep on a cat. He snuck out went across the street, got caught in the closet and almost gave the parent a heart attack At all, yeah, but he just came out of the closet and almost gave the parent a heart attack At all. Yeah, but it was actually in the closet. Weren't you banging the sisters With one?
Speaker 1Well, but I kind of got caught.
Speaker 2With which one?
Speaker 1I don't remember.
Speaker 2Did they?
Speaker 1know about each other. It was the same room.
Speaker 2Then they had to know about each other. You know what you do a lot of nasty shit in the same area with more than one person. That's not the first time.
Speaker 1Can we move on to the next subject?
Family Dynamic and Faith Joins
Speaker 2Oh, okay, fine, I'm fine. I think we're going to end the show with Faith having a conversation with Dad for a minute, so I'm going to let you two finish it.
Speaker 1Really dad for a minute, so I'm gonna let you two finish it really you would like to know that silence.
Speaker 2Oh, you're going first you got the Neo remote from Matrix Hand. Come on, come on, come on, she's waiting.
Speaker 1What can I say about my dog Faith?
Speaker 2She's perfect, she's perfectly perfect.
Speaker 1Y'all she has literally been through hell and I'm sitting here looking at a warrior right now. I see her battle wounds. You see her scar.
Speaker 2The big ass scar.
Speaker 1And her little pooch down there, her little stomach. And you know, there's a little pooch down there, a little stomach.
Speaker 2And you know to see her lying on that hospital bed there's a palm in her hand.
Speaker 1I'm proud of her.
Speaker 2Dad's crying.
Speaker 1I'm not crying. Yes, you are, I'm not. It's the fan.
Speaker 2There's a water in them.
Speaker 1I'm very proud of you.
Speaker 2Oh, I don't want this. I don't want this here.
Speaker 1Don't throw things at me, I'm not a bookie.
Speaker 2You're a toilet paper, I can wipe off your eyes. All right, he said it. So now you're done, but not once, not twice, not once. It was nothing. You know what. Again, they did not have trust with him. For a while I said you know, you know. But when he told me that he stayed, on my side when I got on my side. Well, that changed everything, you know.
Speaker 1I'm glad your mom still doesn't trust me Every time I get around her she's trying to block my hands.
Speaker 2Good, he needs permission, right, mm-hmm, are you a mama's girl, or? A daddy's girl, I'm not a little blast. If you're good Mom, you're bad, go ahead. But in general, mama's girl, mama's girl. My girl my girl. So are you going to go paint now?
Speaker 1I'm going to go to the shower.
Speaker 2No, because you're going to get paint on you, so you need to wait.
Speaker 1I'm not that sloppy.
Speaker 2Yeah, you are, yeah, I am.
Speaker 1Bye Faith.
Speaker 2Thanks for visiting. Thank you.
Speaker 1Bye. I'm telling her all the dumps are beautiful.
Speaker 2Bye, no, no, get Dad to admit he's going to paint the kitchen.
Speaker 1I'm going to paint the kitchen Tonight, sometime.
Speaker 2Tonight, sometime Tonight, thank you.
Speaker 1Thank you all for listening to Faith Victoria Michael. Unstoppable, unstoppable. Thank y'all for listening to Faith Victoria Michael. I'm going to stop the voice Unstoppable here to continue to smile. We thank you for supporting us by continuing to listen and sharing our podcast and what we do and who we try to reach out to. Please get on Amazon and support us voluntarily by purchasing purchased some of her books that she's written.
Speaker 2They can also make a donation for scholarships.
Speaker 1And then, like she said, there's a top note, just the bottom right of our main website contagiousfondcom, you can donate and it will help go towards the scholarship for someone who is less fortunate. And be sure to look out for the book coming soon, dear Silas. Dear Silas, and I'm sorry if we didn't get your story in there, your voice in there, this may lead into something else and we don't know yet. So thank God for listening.
Speaker 2I love you.
Speaker 1Do you love them or do you love me? I love you, mark. I love you both. Good night y'all.
