00:00This is Carla. I'm telling you, this house is crazy.
00:04She fell in love with...
00:06Eric.
00:09When I tell people that I'm married to somebody that's in prison,
00:12they think, like, oh, what did he do? Did he kill somebody?
00:14And I'm just like, no.
00:17Close to that, but...
00:18Eric is currently serving a 13-year prison sentence
00:22for attempted murder.
00:24When I found out about all, like, the crimes he's done,
00:27I'm just like, you are the craziest.
00:30That's what I said.
00:31And when these two got together,
00:33there were many that didn't approve the match.
00:35When we first started talking,
00:37my family was not OK with me dating him.
00:39Her brother had told me that she's dating some guy in prison.
00:43I was like, oh, my gosh, that's crazy.
00:45With Eric's release on the horizon,
00:48will their relationship finally get the acceptance they long for?
00:51She married this guy and he's in there for something violent.
00:55It does scare me a little bit.
01:03So I have a lot of his stuff that he has sent me over the years.
01:08I have some drawings.
01:10So he did this one probably before we got married, so, like, 2012, 11.
01:17This card, he put Eric and Carla.
01:20I am married to an incarcerated man
01:22that is serving 13 years for attempted murder.
01:25He was a part of a gang when he was younger.
01:28We met while he was already serving his time.
01:30He was one year into his sentence.
01:32It's not every day you meet the love of your life
01:34and they're locked up in prison.
01:36But for Carla and Eric, romance blossomed while he was behind bars.
01:41He contacted his friend, which was dating my cousin,
01:45and she asked me if I would talk to somebody.
01:47And then she told me he was incarcerated, so I told her no.
01:51She got me to write him, and then the rest is history.
01:57As a criminal, people think, like, he's just, like,
02:00wanting to beat up people and, like, do stuff to people.
02:03And I'm like, he has feelings, he gets sad, he gets emotional.
02:06If he was a hardcore, crazy person,
02:09he wouldn't be sending all these little lovey-dovey stuff.
02:13These are all the letters from 2010, 12, 13.
02:21So this just says, like, I love you with all my heart, princess.
02:25You are the most beautiful thing that has ever happened in my life.
02:30I never pictured myself in a relationship with an inmate.
02:34There's nobody in my family that has ever been to prison.
02:37I had my doubts, cos you never know.
02:39So I still think about it, it's in the back of my head.
02:42I don't just live, like, a fairytale world where I'm like, ah, I'm in love.
02:46The couple have been together for ten years,
02:48and Eric is serving a 13-year sentence.
02:51These are some of the pictures that I have of me and him.
02:55These are all just contact visits, just regular visits.
02:58The couple's entire relationship has been while Eric has been in prison.
03:03Even their wedding day happened in jail.
03:06This is a very special picture for me.
03:09The day we got married, my parents didn't go,
03:11so I only had my cousin there with me.
03:13Carla's mother did not approve of the marriage,
03:16but despite that, the pair went ahead and tied the knot.
03:20My mum was not OK with it.
03:22Obviously, she wanted me to wait until he got out to marry him.
03:25That didn't happen.
03:27So they were not OK.
03:29My mum didn't talk to me for, like, a month when I got married.
03:32But then she got over it, I guess, and she's OK with it now.
03:37Carla has found being married to an incarcerated man
03:40brings a lot of snap judgments about her choice of husband.
03:44When I tell people that I am married to somebody that's in prison,
03:47you know, they think, like, oh, he's a criminal,
03:49what did he do, did he kill somebody?
03:51And I'm just like, no, close to that.
03:54But, you know, that doesn't define him as a person to me.
03:59And it's not just the judgment that's difficult.
04:01There are many physical difficulties
04:03that come when one half of the couple is behind bars.
04:07So not being able to go out on a real date with my husband
04:10So not being able to go out on a real date with my husband
04:13it sucks because, obviously, you go out
04:16and you see all these couples out there just walking around
04:19and living their lives, and, you know, I just...
04:23look forward for my one phone call.
04:34Yeah, this new prison is so stupid.
04:38If something happens, there's a lockdown, there's a fight,
04:40then there's no phone calls.
04:43This is why I don't wait.
04:47Because then I get mad.
04:53Like, you could be in prison, but if you tell me a certain time,
04:57you call me at that time.
05:00You know?
05:01Like, I also have things to do out here.
05:08PHONE RINGS
05:19Hey.
05:22Nothing, just sitting down.
05:24What are you doing?
05:33What?
05:38Not one, two jobs.
05:39OK, so are they going to pay you?
05:43How much?
05:49OK, don't fuck up nobody's hair.
05:51The phone calls, we get 15 minutes if we're lucky.
05:54It's very annoying because, you know, there's so many things
05:57I want to tell him, but then I can't.
06:00Because those 15 minutes go by really fast.
06:03I miss him all the time, you know.
06:04What do you want to do the first day you get out?
06:06What do you want to do?
06:07You haven't told me.
06:13Where are you going to take me?
06:14I don't want McDonald's.
06:19That'd be nice.
06:20Do you feel, like, scared, though, or no?
06:33Love you.
06:35All right.
06:38Like, now that he's there and he's going to get out,
06:40like, his answers are so much...
06:44..like, clearer, if that makes sense.
06:46Like, um...
06:48He gives you, like, a forward answer.
06:50Sometimes he'll be like, I don't know yet, I don't know.
06:52And then now I think, cos he's so close to coming home,
06:54he's just, like, A, B, C, D.
06:56And I'm like, whoa.
06:59Society, people think because you're married to somebody in prison,
07:02they think you're like that too.
07:04Her brother had told me that she's dating some guy in prison,
07:08and then it wasn't probably till, like, a year later
07:10I actually found out that they were married,
07:12and I was like, oh, my gosh, that's crazy.
07:14Like, I don't know anybody who would marry a guy in prison.
07:18It was a huge shock and surprise to me.
07:20I was like, how are you going to wait that long, you know?
07:23And here we are, seven years later,
07:25and he's about to get out in a couple of months.
07:28I mean, you marry...
07:30She married this guy, and he's in there for something violent.
07:35It does scare me a little bit,
07:37but he does seem like he has changed,
07:40and I hope he does good and stays out of trouble.
07:44Happily for Eric and Carla, his release date is approaching,
07:47and they are now looking forward to finally being united
07:50outside of prison walls.
07:52Personally, I'm not scared when my husband gets out.
07:55I've thought about it a lot.
07:57I think he might actually be a little bit more scared of me.
08:00Hello.
08:01Hi, Alyssa.
08:04Carla told me about her relationship.
08:06I remember the first time that you told me that he was locked up.
08:10I went to work, and I was like, Alyssa, Eric got locked up.
08:15And I was like, oh, my God, why?
08:18She was, like, very shocked.
08:20I was so shocked.
08:21I was so shocked.
08:22And then when I found out the reason that he had gotten locked up,
08:27I was even more surprised.
08:30Four months. Are you excited?
08:32Obviously, he's been in there for almost 13 years,
08:36and he has missed out a lot.
08:38He's missed out his whole 20s.
08:41Like, the funnest years.
08:43Like, drinking, partying, being able to go to the club.
08:45Just everything.
08:47He doesn't even probably know what, like, a touchscreen phone is.
08:49He's not going to know what apps are.
08:51That's true.
08:52What are you guys going to do first?
08:54He's never been to Disneyland, so we plan on going to Disneyland.
08:58Like, he's never been there.
09:00What would happen if he was to go back into prison?
09:02Bye, bitches.
09:03Yeah?
09:04I would literally be like, bye, bitches.
09:06You guys get one phone call a day now.
09:09You're going to be around each other 24-7.
09:11Do you feel like you're going to have, like, things, like,
09:13run out of things to talk about, or, like,
09:16Are you nervous to actually have him around all the time?
09:19No.
09:20I don't think I'm going to be nervous.
09:22I'm just excited for everyone else to meet him, too.
09:24Like, you guys get to meet him.
09:26I know.
09:27I feel like he's been a part of the family just as long as I have,
09:29but we've never met, so it'll be exciting to meet him.
09:33Well, she's happy with him, so why would I go and say, like,
09:37don't be with him just because he is, you know, in prison?
09:40That's her decision.
09:44I feel like they have a lot of love for each other.
09:47I think their relationship, when he gets out
09:50and they're finally together,
09:52I think it's going to be even stronger.
09:56Despite having spent almost all of their relationship apart,
10:00with just a few months to go before he gets out,
10:03Carla and Eric have a lot to look forward to.
10:06You had a good day today. You sound really happy.
10:08Very positive.
10:10Because she made me feel like that.
10:12Who?
10:13You, babe.
10:14We're going to try to live a normal life.
10:16That's what we want, and that's what we plan on doing.
10:19I cannot wait to just, like, hold his hand and walk down the street.
10:23Just walk down the street with him.
10:25That's going to be fun.
10:39I love you.
10:40I love you too.
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