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Speaker 1: All right, here we go, Steve. All right, subject lighted

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Speaker 1: up and in love. Here Stephen Shirley. I am a

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Speaker 1: thirty three year old single female and for the past

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Speaker 1: year or so, I have been in a romance, having

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Speaker 1: a romance with an inmate that's been in prison for

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Speaker 1: seventeen years. He's my best friend's brother and he tried

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Speaker 1: to date me for many years and would write me letters,

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Speaker 1: but I just wasn't interested. Well, last year, I had

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Speaker 1: surgery and I was out of commission for a while,

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Speaker 1: and he sent me the sweetest letters and cards. When

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Speaker 1: his mother found out about us, she told me he

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Speaker 1: might be exonerated because of some new evidence in the case.

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Speaker 1: I started having mixed feelings about him coming home. His

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Speaker 1: mom told me that I should really give him a

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Speaker 1: chance at romance if he is released. I've fallen in

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Speaker 1: love with him, and it's hard for me to believe

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Speaker 1: it and explain it. I can't tell my family or

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Speaker 1: my co workers about him. I tell him that my

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Speaker 1: man has a demanding job and he travels a lot,

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Speaker 1: so that is why they haven't met him. They have

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Speaker 1: noticed that I am happier now and smiling whenever I

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Speaker 1: mentioned this guide to them, and I am honest with

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Speaker 1: him about my feelings toward his incarceration, and he gets

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Speaker 1: very upset when I told him. I am ashamed to

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Speaker 1: tell the people that I am closest to me that

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Speaker 1: are closest to me about him. I am an accountant

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Speaker 1: and I have worked hard to secure a top position

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Speaker 1: in my company, and I don't want to be judged.

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Speaker 1: And there's also the possibility that he won't be released,

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Speaker 1: so I would have told everyone for nothing. So what

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Speaker 1: do you think, Stephen Shirley. Should I just put it

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Speaker 1: out there that I'm dating a man in prison and

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Speaker 1: hopes that my family will accept him as the man

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Speaker 1: I love, or should I end it with him? Please advise? Well,

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Speaker 1: first of all, these are two extremes. Should you tell

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Speaker 1: your family or should you end it with him? Can

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Speaker 1: we meet somewhere in the middle. First of all, I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't tell anyone anything. Why. First of you don't owe

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Speaker 1: them any explanation just yet, you don't even have all

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Speaker 1: the facts. His mom said there because of some new

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Speaker 1: evidence in the case, he might be exonerated. So that's

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Speaker 1: not even a possibility yet, it's just a mite at

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Speaker 1: this point. There's a possibility you say later in the

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Speaker 1: letter that he won't be released, So you didn't even

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Speaker 1: say what he's been in for seventeen years for. You

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Speaker 1: didn't share that with us, So you know, that's kind

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Speaker 1: of hard for us to really make, you know, a

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Speaker 1: sound decision. What is he in there for? What is

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Speaker 1: this new evidence? There are a lot of things that

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Speaker 1: are left out of this letter. You've been dating him,

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Speaker 1: or you've been talking to him, not dating him. You've

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Speaker 1: been talking to him for just a little over a year.

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Speaker 1: He's been in there for seventeen years. So there's a

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Speaker 1: lot that needs to transpire before you know, you start

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Speaker 1: taking this relationship too seriously and to the next level.

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Speaker 1: Wait to see what's going to happen. Calm it on

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Speaker 1: down again. You know, you put in here for a

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Speaker 1: reason that you have a very demanding job, that he

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Speaker 1: has a demanding job. But more than that, you have

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Speaker 1: an important job and you've worked hard to secure a

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Speaker 1: top position at your company. You don't want to be judged.

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Speaker 1: You have to take all this into consideration, okay, and

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Speaker 1: again the possibility that he won't be released, So I say,

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Speaker 1: just hold off and see what's going to happen with

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Speaker 1: this situation. You know, will he be exonerated and you

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Speaker 1: and he gets upset when you tell him things, so

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Speaker 1: you know it's still too early to tell. I just say, wait,

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Speaker 1: all right, that's what I say. Just wait, Steve, I'm

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Speaker 1: locked up and I'm in love. Now, locked up and

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Speaker 1: in love. You're thirty three years old. You've been having

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Speaker 1: his romance with an inmate that's been in prison for

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Speaker 1: seven teen years. Your best friend's brother. He tried to

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Speaker 1: date you for a lot of years and would write

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Speaker 1: me letters, but I just wasn't interested. Now, I'm assuming

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Speaker 1: that you're saying is that he's tried to date you

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Speaker 1: from there for a lot of years, because see, if

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Speaker 1: he'd been in jail seventeen years, you thirty three, I'm

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Speaker 1: assuming he went in when you was sixteen sixteen, he

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Speaker 1: must have went in when you were sixteen. Then you

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Speaker 1: say he's tried to date you for many years, that's

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Speaker 1: why he'd been in now or he's sixteen too, I

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Speaker 1: don't know, but he started just had to start at

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Speaker 1: sixteen for you. Well, last year you had surgery and

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Speaker 1: you was out of commission for a while, and well

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Speaker 1: he sent me the sweetest letters in cards. Well, he

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Speaker 1: got time, right, he got time, he got time to

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Speaker 1: be sweet. Nah. I appreciate the brother too. I ain't

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Speaker 1: knocking it at all. Probably cheered your made you feel

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Speaker 1: somebody probably did more for you than anybody else, so

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Speaker 1: I can understand that. Yeah. Well, then when his mother

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Speaker 1: found out about us, about us, she told me he

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Speaker 1: might be exonerated cause of some new evidence in this case,

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Speaker 1: I started having mixed feelings about him coming home. What

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Speaker 1: so you don't really want him to come home, Mamma

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Speaker 1: told me I should really give him a chance at romance. Well,

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Speaker 1: somebody gonna give him a chance at romance. Hang on,

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Speaker 1: been in that seventeen years, you damn right? Hang on, Steve, Well,

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Speaker 1: I've heard two of Steve's a response. Well, as far

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Speaker 1: as I can get to this thirty three year old

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Speaker 1: woman for the past years, so been having a romance

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Speaker 1: with an inmate that's been in prison for seventeen years.

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Speaker 1: He's your her friend's brother, and he tried to date

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Speaker 1: me for many years, which means, you know, if she's

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Speaker 1: thirty three, for many years somewhere from between age sixteen

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Speaker 1: and nine, he'd been hitting on him. Well, but I

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Speaker 1: just wasn't interested. Probably because he was in jail, and

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Speaker 1: I understand that. Well, last year I had surgery and

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Speaker 1: now was out of commission for a while, and he

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Speaker 1: sent me the sweetest letters in cars. I mean, that's cool,

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Speaker 1: he got time, but you know, I appreciate the brother

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Speaker 1: doing that. Anyway, Well, when his mother found out about it,

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Speaker 1: she told me that he might be exonerated cause of

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Speaker 1: some new evidence. In this case. I don't know what

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Speaker 1: he did or what his sentence is, but it's some

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Speaker 1: new evidence. And then you say you started having mixed

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Speaker 1: feelings about him coming home, and his mom told you

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Speaker 1: that you ought to really give him a chance of

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Speaker 1: romance if he is released. Well, that's the first thing

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Speaker 1: gonna be on his mind when he get out, some romance.

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Speaker 1: You can believe that, So you mean you to start

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Speaker 1: working your mind around that. But you say, then you flip,

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Speaker 1: you have a mixed rope feelings. Then you say you

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Speaker 1: didn't fell in love with him, And it's hard for

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Speaker 1: me to believe it or explain it. Now. I've seen

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Speaker 1: a lot of inmate shows. There's a lot of women

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Speaker 1: that will marry inmates. That's y'all's business, if that's what

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Speaker 1: you want to do with your life and you can't

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Speaker 1: explain it. Yeah, I don't, because he's treating you better

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Speaker 1: than anybody else, probably the reason why. And I can't

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Speaker 1: tell my family or my co workers about him because

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Speaker 1: you know why, because you didn't already. This is what

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Speaker 1: you have said. My man got a demanding job. You

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Speaker 1: better believe he'd do. He got tougher his job. He

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Speaker 1: got to sit there and can't leave his job. He

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Speaker 1: ain't got no rights on his job and to pay

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Speaker 1: on his job. It's about is way way below the

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Speaker 1: poverty low. So yeah, he got a demand and ask job.

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Speaker 1: Then you say that he travels a lot. Now, he

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Speaker 1: ain't going nowhere. They don't travel in prison. He might

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Speaker 1: be able to go down the hallway. He can go

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Speaker 1: on another till Mike can work to his job, but

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Speaker 1: he ain't traveling nowhere. So that's you telling them. That's

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Speaker 1: why they ain't met him yet. They have noticed that

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Speaker 1: I'm happy and now I'm smiling Whenever I mentioned this

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Speaker 1: guy to them. You in love with him. I'm honest

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Speaker 1: with him about my feelings towards his incarceration, though, and

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Speaker 1: he got mad when I told him that. I'm shamed

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Speaker 1: to tell the people that are closest to me about him. Oh, oh,

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Speaker 1: you don't wanna tell nobody about me? Dog, No, she

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Speaker 1: can't because she didn't lie how she gonna tell them

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Speaker 1: about you? And she didn't say that you had a

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Speaker 1: demanding job. So you didn't build this relationship up wrong.

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Speaker 1: You should have just said on the beginning what you felt.

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Speaker 1: But since you didn't, built up this lie, now you

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Speaker 1: can't tell nobody the rest of it. Because you have

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Speaker 1: said he got a demanding job and he traveled a lot.

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Speaker 1: That's why y'all ain't meet him yet. That ain't the truth.

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Speaker 1: That cause they can't meet him because they ain't everybody

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Speaker 1: got time to drive all the way up there, Steve, huh,

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Speaker 1: Stop And I don't even know if you're driving up there.

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Speaker 1: He could be out of state somewhere. Ain'tybody got time

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Speaker 1: for this? Anybody fit to meet him? Now? I ain't

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Speaker 1: got the real nothing in I got to bring this

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Speaker 1: lady in Now. I'm an accountant, and I don't worked

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Speaker 1: harder to kill top position in my company, and I

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Speaker 1: don't want to be judged. Well, damn it, you're gonna

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Speaker 1: get judged because you'd have told everybody what your little

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Speaker 1: line asks that your man gotta demand a job, and

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Speaker 1: he traveled a lot. His job don't pay good the

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Speaker 1: demanding parties. He can't ever leave his job. He traveling

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Speaker 1: no where you doing all the traveling. And then it's

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Speaker 1: also the possibility that he won't be released. This sounding

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Speaker 1: crazier in this letter, So why don't you wait until

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Speaker 1: he gets released to share everybody with your man? But

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Speaker 1: then you're gonna have to explain to him why all

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Speaker 1: of a sudden, now he did every day. Now he

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Speaker 1: didn't went from it. He stayed gone justice at the house,

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Speaker 1: and he ain't working. So I just put it out

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Speaker 1: there that I'm dating the man in prison. I don't

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Speaker 1: think you should. I don't give a damn about him

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Speaker 1: being mad. Now he can support you with him letters

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Speaker 1: in cards, but you gotta wait till you get sick again.

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Speaker 1: He can't send you none of this money because he

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Speaker 1: needs money on his books. You've been doing that, let's

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Speaker 1: admit it. Now. Should you put it out there as

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Speaker 1: you're dating the man in prison? No, because you gonna

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Speaker 1: sound crazy because you have already told him that he

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Speaker 1: has a demanding job and he travels a lot, and

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Speaker 1: that's why y'all ain't met him, then you're gonna double back.

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Speaker 1: I can say he an inmate, lady, don't mess your

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Speaker 1: job up down there. This is crazy. Now. I ain't

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Speaker 1: saying you want to break up with him and leave

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Speaker 1: me alone. I don't think you should. You want to

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Speaker 1: love the man. He probably a good man. It's a

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Speaker 1: good people in prison that made a lot of mistakes.

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Speaker 1: So love you man like you love you. Go down.

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Speaker 1: They're married a man if you want to. But you

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Speaker 1: ain't got to share all this information? Or should I

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Speaker 1: just end it with him? No, you ain't got to

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Speaker 1: end it with him. You know you're a good dude.

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Speaker 1: Damn sure, ain't got to tell everybody because you just

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Speaker 1: told me to sound crazy. Yes, all right, we gotta

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Speaker 1: get out of here and email us our Instagram us

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Speaker 1: your thoughts on Today's Strawberry Letter at Steve Harvey FM,

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Speaker 1: or you can check out the Strawberry Letter podcast on demand.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to show