Leslie
Appearances
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
Having a blood sample, they're really very supportive of each other. Because I think Lacey found it quite difficult having a blood sample in school for the first couple of times, but Betsy was really encouraging. So it made the whole process easier.
Global News Podcast
The Happy Pod: The professionals and tradespeople cleaning up Ghana
We're all waiting for your reaction.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
I felt like I sat on my mom's couch for three days. It didn't even feel like I moved. Because the first time I remember being at home in my bed is when I just felt like I said, I got to see him. I got to see him. You know, I keep seeing him.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
People who remind me, you know, and I'm just getting a glimpse of a man turning a corner or a kid with a backpack and he has the same, you know, height and build. Or I would feel this little thing he would do with our ears. He would like thump his finger across your ear and you would hear the wind. I kept telling Lewis, I just need to see him.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
It just tore her apart. On August 9th, I'm with Michael's siblings. And we're trying to remember the good times. instead of that time.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
It was so strong that it was coming through our windows, like this spicy feeling almost, as if you're having an allergic reaction to something. Your eyes burn, your nose burns. And it was so strong in the air.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
And I couldn't believe that. Like, to see it in person on a residential street with cars and somebody's hanging out the top with an assault rifle pointing it, due to... an officer killing an unarmed, when you think about the base of this story and where it stemmed from, and then you see their reactions, it's like, excuse me?
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
I knew nothing about Black Lives Matter. I knew nothing about any of that. All that I knew was that I had to make funeral arrangements for my baby boy. I had to go out and pick out his last outfit. I had to go to a funeral home and put together obituary. Those were the things that were at the forefront of my mind.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
I knew I had to. Nobody even offered to do it for me. I had to do it. I picked out a blue cardigan, a plaid shirt to go under his cardigan, a blue bow tie. And some blue jeans. I dressed him in a way that I would want and a way that I knew he would like. And he had a fresh haircut. And he had a Cardinals cap. Because he loved a hat. I love a hat, too. But the hat couldn't go on his head.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
Because he had been shot in the top. And his head was still, you know, pretty swollen. And... That shot to the top of his head came out of his left eye.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
I had a picture of Mike, and I said, I want him to look just like this. Like there's nothing to happen, meaning that I want him to look like himself. And I'll dress him like himself and put him away.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
They took me to a funeral home, and they walked me to the room, and I just remember them opening the doors, and I saw two rows of seats, two pews, and it felt like the longest walk ever. But he was at the end.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
Like, I don't want to be able to tell that his head is swollen or that his eye is gone. I want him to look just like himself. And he did a damn good job.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
I never imagined burying my son. And I never imagined those dynamics surrounding his death either. I never imagined the police shooting my son. Nothing of that happened. to my son. It took 44 minutes to bring him here and this man killed him within less than 44 seconds. I never imagined any of that.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
You've not had one conversation with me as a mother. And you're selling neckties with his face on them at his funeral. A funeral that costs thousands of dollars. Thousands of dollars. There are celebrities here. There are pastors here from all over the world. There are people here because their heart told them to be here. And what they believe here. And you're selling a necktie. I was disgusted.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
I could not believe that. I couldn't believe that there was a website set up selling hats. The folks who were doing it were supposed to love Mike and care about Mike. But couldn't I tell you one thing about Mike? Not one thing, his favorite food, favorite color, how he was in school, what type of big brother he was, what type of son, you know. But they thought that it was okay to profit, right?
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
I was on the news and on the radio and probably on a plane Within a week. And I had never been on an airplane. So I was facing fears and, you know, being courageous and being like super mom. Because when it comes down to it, we're going to do whatever we have to do. And that's just what I did.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
With all the travel, that's where Louis became like, you know, the parent. And he was home with them, getting them back and forth to school, helping with homework more than I was at the time.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
Going to the salon after everything happened was, it was the same as going to the grocery store. Going to the airport, you're being recognized and noticed by people. They want to tell you something. They want to show you something. They want to invite you somewhere. Some people saying things that were mean and nasty, like, well, they didn't do anything when my brother was killed.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
Yeah, it was chaotic. It was confusion. Some people would just walk up and want to hug you.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
Immediately. Immediately. Yeah, as I said, when we were on Canfield, the things that I was hearing from the officers, the disrespect for Mike laying in the street four and a half hours, the disrespect to me as his mother, the disrespect for his human life, it happened immediately. It happened even before my son probably hit the ground. The disrespect started.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
And they were making a big deal about why do I have red hair? Why do I have red hair? Why does she have red hair? Why does it matter? I didn't know that my hair color mattered so much or defined me as a person.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
And I did that for about two months until I felt Mike in the dark. He said, my mama, right? And I know you hear these type of things from people when they tell, but it's real. It really is. And he came to me and he just said, Mama, I'm all right. And that gave me momentum.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
After that is when I knew I had to fight for him. You know, like, I can't let this be.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
I've gotten letters from Germany, Africa, Brazil. And these were people expressing that they have witnessed police brutality too. And they're like, we need you down here. I was in my mind like, who do they think I am? What do they think? What powers do they think I have? What have I done? What am I doing? Because it's not changing my situation.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
So I didn't know why these people were so excited and riled up and wanted me to come. And it was very confusing. And I didn't understand the protests. And then I come to realize that if we show up in numbers and we all are demanding the same thing, something's going to happen. Somebody's going to be looking and listening and they're going to say, oh, we can't have all those people.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
We got to do something. So I started to understand the power of the protests. When I saw it happening everywhere and saw that people were making paintings, shirts, signs, and they was just like, I'm with you, sister, we with you.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
My coworker who worked at Strava's with me, he lived on Canfield as well. He was a young man by the name of Mario. When I learned that Mario lived on Canfield, I showed him a picture of my son because my mom lived there and I wasn't always there.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
There was a lot of grief on my shoulders. Managed their grief, my grief. My husband, my mother, my father, my sister, my brother, my nieces, my nephews. Although it happened to me, I've always been that strong person in the Rockets. They like, what are we going to do?
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
And Deja just had stepped into her big sister role. But Deja was old enough to know. And she was really preserved and kind of off to herself. And just didn't want to be bothered. She was processing it. She was processing it all. She became really, like, ink. You know, she became really angry at what she couldn't understand.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
So that day, Mario called my phone and he said, Leslie, there's something going on on Canfield and there's somebody laying in the street. He said, I can't really say if they're dead or not because there's a lot of people around them. And he said, but that picture you showed me, it kind of looked like your son.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
I was cool with my $10.25 from stripes and bringing my son home a little barbecue meat and this and that. I was cool with that. I was content with that, okay? A lot of people was in it for money. And I just was like, this is not how I want to make money. I know I have bills and I have kids and mouths to feed and things like that. But I don't want to make money because my son died.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
And while we were talking, my line clicked, and I looked at the phone, and it was my sister's number. And she never calls me at work because she knows I'm at work. So I knew, and I promise you, when your kids hurt themselves, you feel it.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
Because my son was killed. Let me stop saying he didn't die. He was killed. That was really hard for me to get over that, you know, and just to embrace that purpose that I was stepping in.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
When your babies start walking, learning how to walk, and they trip over a little bit or they bump their head, you feel something in you because they come from you. And I felt something instantly when I looked at their phone and saw it was my sister. And before I could even say hello, she said, they shot Mike Mike. That's all she said. I didn't ask no questions.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
She didn't tell me anything past that. I didn't know who they were. I just knew I needed to get to Canfield. And I just took my phone and I think I just threw it because of what I heard. I don't even want that phone around me no more. And so when I ran back into the building and it was showing on the news.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
All I remember saying over and over and over and over and over again was why, why, why, why. I just remember that playing in my head over and over and over and over and over again.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
And when we got to the top of Canfield, so we're still on West Florissant, I just saw, I don't even know how you say it, but it was just a number of police cars. They were all lined up on both sides of the street. facing north.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
And I got out the car and I saw Mike's father. He looked at me. I looked at him. We didn't say anything. The only thing that came out of my mouth was Mike. That's the only thing. And then we both looked down the street and we started running. And anything after that, I'm sure has played on the news.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
When I first, you know, got on the scene, the things that I said, who I came into encounter with, and when I first saw the sheet on the ground.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
And I asked him, was that my son? We did not speak. We did not introduce ourselves. My only words was, is that my son? And he said, yeah. He said yes, and he nodded and said yes. And I don't remember what happened after that for probably at least a few hours. I just remember crying and just losing myself for a minute. And I think when I came back to it is when I felt my husband
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
He hugged me from the back, and I realized that I was on Canfield. Mike had not been shot. Mike had been killed.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
He said it all happened so fast. But he just, from the conversation he had with Mike leading up to what he saw, he could not understand why the officer did what he did. And he told me that him and his co-worker were even screaming at him like he has his hands up. He's down like, why do you keep shooting? He's telling me. He was just really close where he saw everything.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
What they did on Canfield changed my life forever. So that's one place I will not be ever again if I don't have to be. I don't like to go back there.
Still My Baby
They Shot Mike Mike
It was such a disrespect to him. Yeah, it was such disrespect. You know, and us, like, do you even know? No, he's not world-known and world-famous, but he is to me. Yeah. And you, this not even a person that should be laying under the sheet, man. Not at all. Not at all. So it was just... Oh, Lord, it was just craziness for hours.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
Hi. So I have, it's kind of like a three fold question. We got ourselves into quite a big mess with our finances. We took out a HELOC on our house a little over five years ago and when we did it, they did not, all they told us was that it was 1% interest rate. It would be, it would take care of all the debt that we had. We wouldn't have that debt hanging over our head anymore.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
And we would be fine. So we did that. They did not tell us that the HELOC would balloon or mature, which it did. And now they're saying that we have to refinance the HELOC or pay off the total amount. And on top of having to do that, we have to include our other debt as well.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
On top of that, which I'm sorry, what was that?
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
Uh, so we have two credit cards through the bank and then we have, um, six other credit cards that had gone into collections. And we were working with them to pay those ones off the ones through the bank. We cut up the cards. when we found you guys and stopped using them, but they still have a balance and we're current on it. It just still has the balance.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
So it's $17,000 for one with the bank, another $4,400 with another one from the bank. And then with the ones that had gone to collections that we were working with them on, that total is about, about 19,000 total. And they're saying that we have to include,
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
The two through the bank and two of the ones that had already gone through the beginning legal proceedings of the other credit cards, which one was $7,000 and another one was $2,400. And they want to include all of that onto the HELOC.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
Yeah, so that was my question. I guess I didn't lead with that. I was wondering, so they're saying this is our only option, and this is the trap we fall into every time. I understand it was us that got us into this situation, but as soon as we did that, COVID hit like a year and a half later. And then I had a company reach out to us and tell us it was a debt relief company.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
And they said to, yeah, I fell for that. They said to not only... Stop making payments.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
And beyond that, they said to, because they would just take care of everything and the payments would just kind of go away. They would be able to settle it all to max out the cards because the more debt that we had, the more they would be able to work with them, the more likely they would be able to get rid of it.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
I understand how insane that sounds, and I feel like an idiot.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
Yeah, and that's why I was calling you guys because I don't want to do the same stupid thing over again. They're telling us this is our only option, and I've heard you guys say countless times there are other options.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
So we do have our mortgage company, our main mortgage company that we work with. And that was going to be my other question was, would it be better to reach out to them and see if we worked with them and explain to them that we had the HELOC with the bank and that now it matured and see if we can work with them instead of adding all of this additional debt onto our house?
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
So we can afford to live in the home. My husband brings in on average $2,000 a week. Our mortgage is, um, well, we had a, we were behind a little bit on the escrow because of our homeowner's insurance that had to switch. So they added that onto the principal. So it went from $1,300 to $1,700 a month. So, I mean, the mortgage payments are not a problem.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
To talk to the mortgage company to do it all in one.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
The total amount or the payment amount?
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
$29,000, and they want to add that $17,000. Plus the 45, plus another 10. So we're looking at over $60,000 that they want to put onto the HELOC.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
Well, we would only need to add... They want to add all of that on. The HELOC itself is only $29,000, but they're telling us that in order for them to redo the HELOC... No, we're not redoing any of that crap.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
Yeah, and they're telling us that we won't, and I don't believe them.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
We have... All of our current debt that we have is through the bank. We have a van payment through them. We have a camper through them. And we have the two credit cards that we already cut up and don't use.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
How much money do you need? We are planning on selling the camper, but we don't know how we would be able to sell the van because we're upside down on it.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
Hi. Hi. My question is, should I take out a loan to purchase a family veterinary practice?
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
Yes. So, um, this is a father daughter business. My father owns the business. Um, I have been working in the business, uh, for almost 11 years now as an associate veterinarian. I'm not a partner. I'm not an owner. Um, and I work full time as a veterinarian. I've got two little girls, beautiful little girls, um, one and four and a half. And my amazing husband works as a school teacher. And, um,
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
My, um, my, I guess my, uh, currently the practice, um, is grossing, uh, last year in 24, um, we grossed 1.3 million and our profits are 80,000 a year. Um, my biggest question and my brother actually said that I should call and ask about this because, um, My gut reaction is absolutely no. I do not want to purchase this practice with a loan.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
But the reason the question is coming up is because my husband and I, in June, finally paid off $250,000 in student loans. Yeah, you did. Congrats. Way to go.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
And we are debt-free except our mortgage for the first time in our lives.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
Yeah, so we've been talking about it for years now. I'm pretty vested emotionally in the business. I'm a 120% kind of person, and so I... I run the day-to-day and I manage our team. And so we have talked in the past and I've been very undecided if I wanted to move forward with purchasing the practice or at least becoming an owner. And my...
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
And I finally agreed that, yes, if we can do this, if we can figure out a way last year, about a year and a half ago, I said, we can figure out a way without me having to take out a loan to do this. I'm on board. And it came up again recently. And he said that he didn't actually believe me when I had told him that I didn't want to take out a loan when it came up again.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Never Too Late to Start Building Wealth
And so that really made me feel very unheard. And our relationship is very strained because of this business. And I have worked really hard to try to be mentally healthy for my patients and sometimes working against him.