The. From your ex misses the mark radio, I meg bulls, and in this hour we have four stories from our moth events in EL paso, Houston, Austin, texas, a little context on the loan Our state boast a population of almost twenty nine million people it to the alamo, the birthplace of doktor, pepper and howl, apamia pepper, jelly, its official animals. The armadillo and indistinct sport is rodya. Our first do stories come from. Open. My story, land we hosted in Houston people from Houston seem quick to point out how sprawling it is. Six hundred and forty seven square miles. Our first tell unless the lad who grew up there said you can drive for hours and still be in Houston. Another big claim to fame Houston was the very first words spoken on the

from the warehouse live at an evening, sponsored by Houston, public media. Here's a little lag live at the growing up as a kid I went to summer camp evangelical christians summer camp for a month every summer for ten summers in a row, and it was exactly every stereotype, you're thinking about right now, but I loved it. I was not even to local christian. I grew up catholic, so it was kind of weird that I went there in the first place, but it did turn me into a like a freakishly religious kid, I was obsessed with the idea of being a better christian than everyone else around me. They had this The word at the end of camp every year called the I'm third lord, which meant that you put god first others, second and I'm third, so eventually it was. Who is the most holy and the most selfless?

and I wanted to win that goddamn award, so bad so weakened, like even local christians like the maintaining holiness is purity, and so there are beset with purity all forms of touching the opposite sex or off limits. I can't you could only gave a three second side hug, so if only the side of you could touch their side, none of the good stuff in the front. So we just I bought this whole like purity package, like hook line and sinker, I'm like fourteen years old this one summer, I'm trying to be the best christian, the most pure, the most selfless and this girl comes along she's like popular and pretty so. Everyone listens to her and she tells the entire camp that she's going to wait until her wedding day to have the first kiss of her life. Okay, do you understand

like shooting up the ante. You have all signed a purity pledge, but she's not going to kill anyone until at the altar on her wedding day. So now this purity has become competitive and everyone else starts pledging they're going the same thing and like how m I gonna win this award. If I don't do the same thing right, there's a problem and his name is staff. So we ve been a camp, different girlfriend. Like three summers. Now I'm sir. He had much to do with. I just saw a very timid twelve year old boy who was like blind and could do a back flap I was was just, like mine, where dating now but two or three years later and we ve been spending the entire past year on aol, instant messenger, talking everyday plotting how we were going to have our first case at camp that summer, so here's how we're going to do it

since the summer. They take you to a watermark and if our cabins could go on the same day, then one of those lies was for a two percent inner tube and if we can get in the same manner to then a few seconds of that right we're enclose, so we are going to kiss it was gonna, be I first cases the couple his first case it his entire life, no pressure. We did not factor in how fast water sides are. And so the minute or the second. I turn around to kiss them. We both thought of the tube, but he is still like coming in hot for these lips. Okay, so he bites. My upper lip draws blood, not romantic, but definitely lip contact. So we counted

as a first kiss. So a week goes by. I hear nothing, and then I hear over the whole camp, intercom Alyssa lad come to the camp office and I had to meet with the camp disciplinarian who, by the way, is like twenty three years old I could, which was very scary. At the time and I'm freaking out because I want to win this award, I've never been in trouble. I'm a goody two shoes, but I get there and he's nowhere to be seen. So I'm like they don't know about this case and she's like we know about you and stuff. I was like don't panic just like revealed

nothing. She will tell you what she knows, because that was a good freaking plan. There's no way anyone saw us on that waterslide and I so I just said to her. Well, if we're both in trouble, where's seth- and she says- oh well- that's not in trouble because it's the girl who makes the boys stumble on his walk with the lord, the I was like okay. That sounds about right for the and, of course she didn't know about the waterside. I was in trouble because the counselor had seen stuff and I holding hands the night before and turned us in. She told me that holding kansas that was not saving myself or my future husband and and if we were caught fraternizing again, I and I alone

to be in trouble, and I would go to the hilt in which is the ironic name for the ten in the woods. Are you went if you are bad and you, ran up and down hills and hosting trash cans and works in the kitchen and I'll look pretty sure. God didn't have a problem with me, holding hands but I really didn't want to go to the hilt in so serpent. I broke publicly I never did when I'm third, a word someone I kiss like. Three more times at camp, and I never got caught at least the lad went to camp which she has left nameless from ages. Seven to seventeen Last year she and set were elected by their peers as leaders of the camp. So she does

think holding hands, tarnish the reputations too badly. They stopped being a couple when they were fourteen, but there still friends. Our lives with his wife and son in chicago and works as a journalist and illicit, corporate lawyer in her hometown of Houston. She says she's, no longer trying to out christian everyone, she's just trying to be a good person the the

our next story. Also from our houston story. Slam comes from chris gorman who move from her small town in beaumont taxes to the big city of Houston in nineteen. Eighty nine. She says it feels like everyone in the city is from somewhere else between the space center and the texas medical center and the different artistic and business communities. There are people from all over the world, but in spite of its transiting culture or maybe as a result of it, she says, there's a surprisingly strong sense of community hears, Chris gorman live at the mouth. I dont like nice, easy things. So when I went down to the species to pick out a dog- and I saw one in a cage just said unwanted, I thought that one might be a fit and then when they call me in a week and says he was on rabies hold. That's when I knew that was maybe my dog- and let me get this stuff

right at the start, I'm not a dog mom. I've looked deep inside, I'm not a nurturing person, but at the time I was turning forty and looked around for my friends and there wasn't anybody there so yeah? I was gonna, get a dog and as soon as I said, I couldn't have that dog. I wanted him twice as much anderson I got big going home, you, let me know right away why it said unwanted on his cage. They boy had two things get dogs return. The shelter in a hurry. You had fear aggression and separation, anxiety, fear, aggression just meant that he would bite you. If you looked at him, if you looked at him or if you weren't looking at him. And separation anxiety meant that I got a phone call from the police. My neighbors called the police because big boy was in my apartment, making a noise that you could hear from outer space

And the police were, it is curious as to what kind of animals I was sacrificing inside my apartment, so I ran home from work and I popped opened the door for the police and, I said, look he's just watching tv any was and he was making a noise you could hear from outer space, so I dialed the vat and I held the phone up and I said, listen to this and she said: oh, you don't have to hold up the phone we can hear it from here. And I said I can't keep this dog, but I knew I can really take him back. Either dogs they go back to the animal shelter very seldom come back out again and I had failed at most things. I had tried up to that point. So this needed to be a win for the both of us. I sat down with the vat, and I said I don't know what to do and she goes well. I can recommend our mental health care programme and I said,

mental health and she goes no seriously. We have dogs that come every day to our mental health care programme, so this became our lifestyle every morning I would pact big boy up like he was a luggage going to the airport. I take him to the vat drop him on the carousel, go work, nine hours and then come back in the evening time to pick him up. He had run joyously out of the back from where the cages worse straight to somebody else. I would take him from them and take him home. I did that every week day for five years and then he got sick and he was at the,

is that for a real reason for a change and he's back there in a cage with his name on it, I mean he came there every single day and there was a new vet. She wanted to try to get to know him a little bit and she went back there to put her hand into pet him and a worker stopped her and said. Oh, no, don't touch him! That's big boy he's not nice, but in the next breath the worker said yeah, but you're going to fix them right, you're, going to make him better right. She didn't have any idea. What was wrong with them. It was like being on an episode of house every day. There was a different differential diagnosis and another four hundred dollar bill, and then it got severe and she called me and she's like hey. I think you should take him home, there's not much. We can do for him here, so they sent me home with an ivy bag and a broken dog remember, I went in and I laid him on the kitchen floor and I hung,

I v bag on the kitchen cabinet and I sat down with him and I said sir, I'm sorry, I don't have any special skills. I got nothing for you here, but then I took all the love that I had inside me. I mean for things that I love like ice cream fireworks. My sister and I remember I put it in my hands and it was weird it felt kind of like a warm substance, and then I just applied it directly to the dog, and then I took him back in a couple of days. She took him to the back and she comes back out and she goes he's better. So, let's fast forward to today, the vet did find out some things. That was wrong with big boy he's in triple overtime.

Now and he's blind and all the things that used to make him so angry and frightened about the world. He can't see him any more. I have a nice dog now and what's where it is, I feel really nostalgic for those times when I had all that adrenaline when we were just trying to be together, but I know that if I have a three day weekend or an extra day off we're going to take him on his last trip to the beach again, we ve taken him so many times now, and I know that once I get him on the beach, I'm gonna sit down with them and say big boy even though I was never your mother, I really enjoyed being your lawyer and your publicists you're over driver and your hazmat team, and I know that will just keep taking him on his last trip to the beach until it since last trip to the bay.

That was chris born chris works, as a pharmacy in Houston's third world and she may have been a loner, but when she first met her dog that all began to change big boy introduce, to a lot of new people for meeting the folks at the asked alabama animal clinic whose support made it possible for her to even adopted in the first place, to friendships made at the dog park where she would take big boy to socialize and run around. The french she made their became a best friend, who also happens to be a fan of open my story, slams in Houston, where Chris has hence met a whole new community, Coming up the story of a little reported nasa security breach when the moth radio hour continues.

The radio hours produced by atlantic public media and woods whole massachusetts and presented by p r exe. This is the moth radio, our from pr x. I meg boys are next or comes from EL paso, texas, which stands on the rio grande across the. U s: mexico border from Juarez and a few miles north is the border with new mexico, where our next storyteller grew up. Robert old gain is a journalist and local news anchor at K fox fourteen in EL paso. An issue a story and a mainstay of every produced with a grant from the national endowment for the eyes. The theme of the night was eyewitness.

Here is robert dean, lighted them space travel used to be a pretty big deal. I mean it's still a big deal, but back before sir richard ransom started talking about space tourism going in and out of earth orbit was newsworthy. People paid attend. And especially when it came to the space shuttle in the nineteen eighties. This thing was revolutionary. It blew people's minds, it blew my mind, so imagine what I'm twelve years old I get a phone call from my and he says: hey you, wanna, go see the space shuttle land and ask what these yet spatial it's going to land at white hands to morrow. Do I go see at last, my uncle was a state policemen in new mexico. He was in charge

the governor security, so the governor and my uncle we're going to see the space shuttle. Land white sands missile range the next day, and they were asking me if I wanted to tag along so for a six greater who was a big fan of star trek. This was a note Of course, I wanted to see the spatial, but for my parents it was quite so clear cut. You see, I wasn't a very good student. To repeat all those lousy student everything my homework. I always talked in class. I never stay for tests, so my parents didn't want you reward this kind of behaviour by letting me skip school, even if it meant that their son would get to see a spaceship land in the desert. So begged. I pleaded I made promises about changing my ways and they relented so the next morning, on march twenty nineteen, eighty two I was on a date with destiny. I was in the back seat of an unmarked police car,

john was driving. We finally arrived at headquarters at white, says missile range about two hours, north of my hometown, their new mexico, and there was my uncle's boss, governor bruce king. You can imagine a big boisterous. Politician. I remember he was wearing a polyester suit and cowboy boots. He was working. The room shaken everyone and he shook my hand. It was a big day for governor king. This was about the future of space exploration now back in those days, there was only one space shuttle, the columbia it had been in space. For seven days it had a crew of two and it was supposed to have landed at edwards air force base. It always landed at edwards air force base in the mojave desert. But the landing strip there had been rained out so secondary cite an alternate sight. Was white sands missile range in new mexico? Now white sands

wasn't dealing with rain, but it was dealing with wind like intense wind, the kind of wine that sent grains white sand deep into my eye. Sockets an ear canals The kind of when that would make it very difficult for anyone to pilot and glide at one hundred and sixty five thousand pounds, spacecraft back down to the desert floor. I remember being fascinated by that particular element: the spatial would glided back to earth. No second chances. You had to get it right there start so many ways we stood there. The hours kept slipping by the dignitaries had gotten sandblasted off the aluminum bleachers and they had retreated to headquarters. I remember feeling a sinking feeling in my stomach, because I could see the military guys talking to my uncle. They were talking about the wind they were seen. It is just too strong and then finally, several hours later, the official word came on my uncle's ray

The landing had been cancelled. The mission was scrub because of the winds. I remember learning that word that day scrapped and it seemed appropriate because for a twelve year old, with a nasa vest from kmart It felt like my heart had been scrubbed with a wire brush. The guys from NASA said. Don't worry thing to try again to morrow. They're just can extend the mission by one day they try to land again tomorrow, hopefully won't be as windy on the car right back home. I was heartbroken and I was silent because it didn't matter that nasa was going to try again tomorrow, because I knew that my parents weren't going to let me skip school for a second day. So while the drop me off at home, he said good luck with that. You knew what was that I wanted to

house that my parents had already heard the news on the news that the landing has been delayed by one day and before I could even begin my sales pitch. My dad was like nope. No way it's not going to happen, you're not missing school, again missing school. Wasn't that big a deal but remember I got terrible grades, I'm the one that refuse to study so even at twelve. I knew this was on me. This is my fault, so I retreated back to my bedroom staring at the ceiling and daydreamed about what a landing might have looked like and then in the kitchen. I could over here my sister coming to my defence. She was lobbying on my behalf and there was an interesting development because brothers,

sister relations want exactly good back then, but I heard her say a short speech, something about the hicks historic significance of the event and then she said kind of it up, king actual, which translates roughly two. How sad and the shame worked? I suppose, because eventually my mom came around and then my dad lit up, and so they let me go so the next day. I was back in that unmarked police car on my way to white sands missile range, where we got to the landing strip. The weather was perfect and I decided to strike out on my own and that's when I started to notice all of the photographers and all of the cameras and all of the reporters and all the people holding microphones. I started to notice the stages that they had built in the desert. With lights hanging from rigging the world was watching, you could tell the excitement was building, then the official word came over.

The loudspeaker, the columbia was coming home, the photographers trained their lenses to the sky. Everyone started to point there. It was off in the distance just a tiny white speck. We heard the thunderous sonic boom, which again I thought was thunder, but the shuttle was travelling faster than the speed of sound as it made its to set. It was flanked by two fighter jets and the columbia. Look nothing like the fighter jets. They were sleek and agile. The columbia was kind of bulky and cumbersome and silent as it made it's final approach and landed effortlessly in the desert. It whizzed past us and I broke out my instamatic camera and took some photos that I noticed that all of the photographers and reporters that I'd seen earlier were standing way up in the distance much closer to the shuttle than the rest of us.

In fact, they were standing really close to where the astronauts would be standing, and so I began to wonder why are they over there and we're over? Here? I decided I was just going to we'll walk over there with them. I had no idea that you had to be credential to be in that area, or at least an adult but I just decided to walk right alongside those cool photographers and reporters I'd met earlier and I walked right into the press conference. It was a chaotic press conference if you can imagine out in the desert floor two astronauts trying to answer questions, so I just kind of weasel my way up front and before I knew it, I was standing right next to the pilot gord important- and I started snapping pictures with my little systematic and he's trying to answer questions, and I decided I want to ask a question.

I chose my moment and then I said that remember he steady right next to me: hey what do you feel like to be in space? A confused look came over his face: remember gourd, foliage and adjust re entered the earth's atmosphere. So he's try to come to terms of why a twelve year old is asking questions he didn't answer. My question is just sort of laughed

that's when nasa security notice that a twelve year old at entered a restricted area- and they escorted me right out of the press conference back to where everyone else was standing far from the action, I didn't get a quote, but I did get a photo fairly decent photo of gordon fullerton. The columbia would go on to take part in several missions, but the columbia would fall off the front page. The missions became routine over the years until february of two thousand three. That's when the columbia disintegrated over the skies of texas, I was coming to work. That day I was working for tv station here in EL paso,

and this time it s called me and told me about what had happened. It was a national tragedy, but to me it was personal that same spaceship that I had seen land effortlessly in the desert just evaporated like a falling star. All seven crew members were killed. I remember going through my old photos of the columbia, try to show them on the news that night. I remember that day. At white sense to me signify the space programmes, ability to adapt to overcome and come out on top, but not on that day. The columbia story would end in disaster. I would have one more opportunity to cover the shuttle programme, as the shuttle programme was coming to an end. I was a television a reporter in LOS angeles,

and one of the last surviving shuttles. The endeavor was being turned into a museum piece, but first they had to get it to the museum. So the only way to do that was to drive it through the streets of l, a like a four billion dollar parade float. I remember working with a photographer that day his name was Steve and he was one of those cool cameraman just like the ones I met out of the desert and nineteen. Eighty two I couldn't stout, we couldn't stop laugh at the spectacle of what we were seen were seen a spaceship crews through this the rates of south central, but on that Day, everybody was celebrating, everybody was happy. Everyone cared about the shuttle again as endeavour passed by. I grabbed the selfie myself with the endeavour, the background. It was better than the photos. I took it colombia, but the idea was the same. Everyone else was watching on tv, but I was right there next to the action, and I got my shop.

Robert old game is a journalist and film maker, and currently the evening news anchor for K fox fourteen in EL paso, texas, just down the road from vader new mexico, where he grew up Robert said he was surprised, You got choked up when telling a story, but talking about that memory in front of all those people, he was suddenly hit by emotion, thinking of the lives that were lost Recently, some of the artifacts from the columbia shuttle were transported to the university of texas, EL paso students can study the disaster robert has asked for from. To view the artifacts, so he can research and hopefully another chapter of the story. You could see a picture of robert with space shuttle colombia on our website, the moth daughter, make up a man's answer to a call for help turns his own life upside down when them Moth radio hour continues.

The most radio hours produced by atlantic public media, which all massachusetts and presented by the public radio exchange pierre ex dot org. This is the mouth radio, our from pierre acts, I'm meg balls and our last story told live on stage in texas. Comes from Christopher Scott. Christopher grew up in cliff a neighborhood of dallas. He describes himself as the baby of nine siblings spoiled rotten. He said they didn't have a lot, but he remembers making toys together with his brothers and sisters go card send slingshot and they were always so proud of what they made from the paramount theatre

austin Texas. Here's christopher Scott, live at the mouth, Sandy's in my home was like these. We wash cause we wash clause in also, we lost him Alice cowboys police, but this particular society. I got a phone call from a friend of mine. There were struggle with drugs He had a real problem and I told him dear. Whenever you need to talk to somebody about drugs and your own addiction. To give me a call to somebody cop that doesn't use drugs, their night. I did want to leave now, but I d just imagine it. This guy came to you. I told you he was

you ugly and you would have been a last person that he talked to? If anything that happened to him or he did something to someone else. So I left I drove to my friend. As I pulled up in his driveway. He got in my car be rolled around the block a couple of times, and I was telling me you have to do better because of drug addiction is series. It kills people it ruins people laps. I never did because I knew exactly what it did it destroyed. A lot, alas, did I know of.

So we drove the seven eleven and got a couple of soldiers on the way back to his home driving down the street. A helicopter flying over put the spotlight right on top of my car and I'm wondering what's goin on as we continue to drive, we pass a cap. The cap does a you'd. So we drive up into my free and you're in going to the house next thing you know the has surrounded by cops. We see a lot of last night, shot an inside windows and wondering what's going on, I don't know eventually led to copy the split. All of us.

Added a the house as they lead us on the grant. They go get random african american me that looks like me and lay on out of the ground with me. Eventually the cops walks up to me points and say you come here I get up and walk to the bringing home my hands. They pour some big reset Is this out of my hand and it drops into a bag after that? The wish twenty five of us, the scores to the police station when we get to the police station, they put twenty five individuals on one side and have me on one side by myself, shackled and handcuffed to a bench. I'm just sitting in front of a big glass window, a female officer walks.

Eighty up to the window. Now I couldn't hear, but I could read her lips, she see it. This is the me the carriage husband ass. She say yes, this hill. I have never seen this lady, dear my life ever before they can be taken into interrogation. They question me: what do you get your jewish? Well, I tell her, I'm not a drug seller and they asked me again: where did you get your drudge from sir? Am not a drug seller? They say yeah. We've we found out the Jews, a drug dealer opinion. I say no, sir, I'm not a jewel della king pin. What do I get a king and do you know work at a local grocery store

I don't know in india in asking just go outside and asked the officers debts in holloway. They were bats he shot and they come and shouted the same store did our working again. Maladies, offices, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, but they still don't believe me. A matter of seconds later they singing your being conveyed european choice with capital murder as a cabin

murder, you mean I went from being a drug dealer, king tee to having a capital murder case, so I go to trial and going to court. Be it in a judge tells me that the ban on being convicted of cap on a murder but understand this, though aside, offices. It I see. A basque me came to my trial in basque me, and inside is no way I couldn't committed this class. Even the ballistic report came back to show at dinner and never fired a girl never fired again, but I was deactivated of cap in murder.

The jury lifted me: islam to gather down high. Say you are now sentenced to cabin a life sentence in prison. You'll be eligible for parole and bought in years, and I've thought about it for sick, like. Why am I in this position? Why is this even happening to me? How am I going to be able to tell my four and five year old kids that they would never see their dad again. So now.

I'm on my way to prison is code is raining, is dark and pull up. I see a big prison when a lot of windows. As I exit the prison vein, I stepped back, I'm shackle, handcuff. Like a snake. I look up into the sky, a seer cooperation officer. I wanna go in town with a key point. Seven pointed directly. In a limited their prison again, I said it these added when nearly other leaders prison again my first day there are welcome to the shower

As I'm walking into the shower, I gotta get stand at least seven times. Ethnicity DC, opposite going, watch haughty and didn't do anything, not one single thing. As I well more into the shower, I heard a grown man screen so last. So perverse is scared me. When I go back to my sea at night, I laid my big thing am I going lose my sin? It will be. The same You mean again that I came in ass. I actually had to think about survival. What am I going to do? What's going to happen to me, I didn't think I was going to survive. I could

sleep at first night then makes him dead same morning about what dirty I come back to come back to my sea and breakfast it's time to go to the fields in affairs. He is well, we gotta go, do our work, The game AG in which we all know is grub in how they give me a bag, instant seeds. So we turned over to saw you plan to seize cover back up the dirt. My has covered with blisters cause. I didn't know how to hold egg. They was wrong and the like really really wrong. As I go back into the my prison inmates stops me in guinea,

Some advice about what I should do so eventually I save up enough money to buy me some gloves from the commissary to protect my hands because they didn't give you glue upstairs. I started writing letters to my family. And then never visit me while I was in prison because I didn't want to yield because you know how to say out of sight out, they lived in staff because my stopped they light kept going, and I was in prison. I started writing in work in my case, as soon as I was eligible bad Using into my since my brother wrote me a letter stating that he here information of a guy that actually committed this car.

This guy was on the same union as my brother, because my brother was incarcerated for criminal mischief and criminal trespass, so this guy came in a barbershop where my brother worked boasting and bragging that him and his friend had robbed and killed a hispanic drug dealer, and there was two other guys in prison for the crime. Little did they got no. He was confessing to my own brother, the guy said. Well, I didn't think that they was going to charge him with this case, but I still was, deity, so my brother can best the guy to san affidavit to hear me go free, but once we sent the district attorney's office, the district attorney see this

he's has no dna. We don't want ever who about this case again. This cases, clothes. So no, never reach out to me about this case ever again, because is over with a question on a red light. Why you put me in position. What did I do so terrible that I have to struggle ngo duties, mama pray for me much courage. Pray for me in my mama. She always see you ve had a fate the size of a mustard seed. It will move mountains because one thing about her

imprison, it's a commodity. You got to have it, you got to have it eventually. We got the first african american district attorney in the state of texas history, which was craig watkins. I wrote craig watkins a letter, told him about my case and he took it to the university of texas of Arlington. Maybe a month later,

I get a letter from the district attorney's office and when I open up this letter I was I was so terrified because I knew my life was inside of this better either I'm going to spend the rest of my life in prison or I'ma go for you. So I open up this letter and I had a glimmer, not a lot, but I remember of hope. After I read that letter, I sealed it and put it up under my pillow two weeks later, I'm walking to that visitation room and I saw my mom. She had gotten older.

At this time, look on her face, but I always had this bright, beautiful smile that lit up the room. I never ever wanted her to see me in this place, I'll be in this position. So when I walked up to her, I embraced my mom with a good hug and a kiss on the cheek Any remind me of being a key and when I was going to school, I remember this perfumed ass. She used to where it was car opium. Now a lot of y'all probably don't know about it if you twenty one and younger, but if you fifty above you know what opium is that's a great perfume for older. Ladies I'm sorry,

but my mama told me this, and this is the first time I ever had hoped that I was gonna get out of prison ccs baby. You gonna take a polygraph test can you will be home? Mom would never ever see how baby boy and is white uniform again, maybe a month later, I walk into this court building the corbin and his fiance. Just like this room right here be up to the pass into people. It wasn't enough season, because my joy of all the news castors was there to see the first person to ever be exonerated without knowing dna and doubtless kansas.

History. Next thing you know the judge hit the gavel. Mr Scott, you are fair actual illness. Free to go there thirteen years idea by crime, I being commit that thirteen years of pressure the thirteen years of bird respond as I walked outside think it's finally over apparently hammer fredo,

And is one thing that I wanted to do is make sure I would never ever be put in this position ever again. I wasn't saying man when I walked in the prison ass I walked out. I was more focused. I was more dedicated. The flag went to prison, I didn't she was too small: things in life, but now did I hear my freedom. I was able to go to the frigid, wait. What I wanted to go to the mayor back when I wanted

to take a long walk outside? When I wanted I used to take their for granted, I really did, but now I don't take it for granted anymore. Now I choose everything about. Thank you christmas. God is the president. The founder of house of renewed hope when Christopher was improve. Then he met other men with the same story is his who looked a lot like him, and so he Along with some fellow inmates started investigating cases to help find evidence that might exonerate other innocent people, they also identified laws that should be changed to prevent this from happening to any one else and they bowed whoever got out. First,

start lobbying christopher was released in two thousand ten and that's exactly what he did and continues to do through his work with house of renewed hope. Samuel james, whose a journalist and frequent ma storyteller shared the stage with christopher that night in Austin, and he talked to a more about his story on october. Twenty. Fourth, you have a big anniversary coming up. I yeah, and you know it is a big anniversary, light twice statement because I told a name is like my bt birthday, so are being to celebrate that out in society. In the end, it say money is my anniversary of wrongful conviction. Now is crazy, my birthday, I tobin a name. You know I got exonerated, I told her twenty fourth, so I'd toby

the big you know is a great moment for me, so I try to cheers in celebrate october that whole thirty one days could get along with the celebrated lawyer, Yeah, I'm not sure jane, I got thirty. One is dated twenty eight thirty. I got thirty one. Days, and it's pretty good idea Earlier. You were telling me about about how you get up in the morning, and this is it's been it'll be ten years in october like I do, but it seems like some ways it doesn't feel like ten years to you know a the time has went by so fast, because I've done so much in a ten year timeframe that it seemed like man I just got out to three years ago, because time has went back so they as I can't believe it, because when men, it I'm just get now, you know tat,

in, do urge in my attorney and allow student did. He have me get exonerate It is in that only the in my turn, a machine noise whale now you know, is outdated because a lot of these people are still in my life, so it may stage transition did much bed in that much easier because having people did saw you in hippy getting donna waited ten years ago and steered a had them around is made of feeling curlers cannibalism, You are also saying that during early bird I'm a bad man about five point. Five six o clock gave him. What why you get up so early as they had their prison like schedule. As waken up early in the morning. Oh Heaven, things that I have prepared for that day. So I just been stuck on the same schedule. I'm still stuck in a time yeah,

I mean like did alarm. Clock goes out in boom. In a wide awake. Like I legacy system most time, I do my best thinking, there's when I'm like the cases did I work own. I can pay a lot more agent torn because really did this time. I do my most thinking embedded thinking as in mourning times, because in prison this when time s when prison was the most quiet very early in the morning, so I gave you a sense of peace, in this way. I look when morning when I get a by just want they apiece news, and I won't they calmness about me in about you know the world, but is one thing I do do I usually woke at my back door and the first thing I do. I always listen to a bird chirping. Because, just like they know exactly what time I come out every morning and it's like those birds just be sitting

No way no me to come out, it's beautiful You can hear more of samuel James interview with Christopher Scott on our website the dot thought you can also re, listen or share the stories you heard in this hour and find out about upcoming live events that said the moth dot, org that's it for this episode. We hope you'll join us again next time for the moth radio, our Hosty sound was made balls, make also directed the stories in the show. The rest of the monster actuarial staff includes Catherine burns. Sarah haberman, Sarah,

just as an jennifer hickson production support from Emily couch. More stories are true, is remembered and affirmed by this storytellers. Our theme, music, is by the drift Other music, in this hour from charlie haven and hank jones, duke levine smoking's you back, and the noise king he's Jared younger bark impala, danielson and John Kristensen. You can find thanks to all the music we use at our website. Author radio is produced by me, J alison with Vicki Merrick at atlantic, public media and woods. Whole massachusetts. This hour was produced, funds from the national endowment for the arts mother you hours presented by pierre x for more about our podcast for information on pitching as your own story and everything else go to our website. The moss dot org.