00:00I got engaged to my fiancee the first time I met him and my fiancee Justin is
00:06in a prison in Arizona. So today I'm going to invite my friends over and tell
00:13them about Justin. They know that I'm engaged they just don't know that he's
00:18in prison. The reason that I go to Arizona and see him and that he doesn't
00:22come to Norway and see me is because he's in prison.
00:27Oh my god. He's been in prison for like 10 years now.
00:31It's a prank, right? No, it's serious. It's a prank.
00:37So my name is Verona and his name is Justin and he's in a prison in Arizona.
00:43I'm 29 and he's 37. He has a 13-year sentence. He's been over 10 years. He has
00:51two years and about two or three months left. Yeah.
00:59So we started talking in February. It kind of went past.
01:03So when I was going to see him in May, which was only a few months in,
01:07I decided like I wanted to make it official.
01:10Hello, this is a free call from Justin.
01:13An incarcerated individual at...
01:14Hey, baby.
01:18How are you?
01:19I'm good. How are you?
01:22Oh, I'm good. Just getting ready for the day.
01:25Yeah. I was struggling so much with dating and trust issues and stuff. So him being there and
01:32me being able to have the distance makes me feel a lot more safe, which helps me open up and gain
01:39trust again. So yeah, I'm coming out to Arizona soon. Are you excited?
01:44As excited as I could possibly be. So exciting that it's a visual problem.
01:51Yeah. And you get to hold my hands for eight hours straight again.
01:56Like the crazy people we are. I love you, though.
01:59I totally am. I love you, too.
02:04Thank you for using Genetics.
02:05Bye.
02:06Bye-bye.
02:10What is this?
02:15He's not scared to be vulnerable and emotional as a man who is in prison.
02:20That's pretty impressive, actually, because you get hard when you're in there.
02:25So we're going to start packing for the trip.
02:28One of the most important things I take with me is actually sunscreen. Like,
02:31I cannot forget sunscreen because me being Norwegian, I'm not used to that sun at all.
02:36When I go in there, the only thing I can bring inside is actually a plastic bag with quarters in
02:42it so I can buy him food.
02:45I got engaged to him the first time I met him. He was warning me that he would get on his knees,
02:49like, in front of everyone, because you're not alone in the visitation room.
02:53He made his own speech and asked me to be his wife.
02:56We kind of started talking about it as a joke at first, but it was just, like, it wasn't serious.
03:04I have to take, like, these sports bras because they don't have the metal in it because you are
03:09not allowed to wear those that have metal on. We're going to get married in prison, yeah.
03:14I want to get married by October, like, on Halloween. I don't know if we can make it happen,
03:20but that's what I want. So today, I'm going to, like, invite my friends over and tell them about
03:26Justin. They know that I'm engaged. They just don't know that he's in prison, so, yeah.
03:34What do you know about her dating history?
03:39That she has a bad taste of men sometimes.
03:45She had a bad situation. I had a bad situation. We just got together and
03:50got our f***ing pics. So we're pretty close like that.
03:57I want to tell them before everyone else knows. Yeah.
04:05I think I have some questions, but it's, like, who is that guy, where he came from, and how it ended up with.
04:15I invited you guys here today, and you don't know the reason yet, but I haven't told you, like,
04:21the details of the person I'm gonna marry, but there has been, like, a lot of rumors
04:27from people talking, so I found out that I just want to be the one who tells it myself.
04:34And the thing is that my fiancé, the reason that I go to Arizona and see him and that he doesn't come
04:41to Norway and see me is because he's in prison. Yeah, I know.
04:45Yeah. Oh my god. Yeah.
04:51He's been in prison for, like, 10 years now, and he has two years left.
04:55No, you're joking. You're joking. You're joking.
04:58It's a prank, right? No, serious.
05:02There, it's a prank. He's speechless.
05:04Yeah, no, he's in prison.
05:07Okay. We started talking as pen pals, and I just fell for him.
05:12Yeah. But, I mean, he's been there for 10 years, so he has had a lot of time to do work on himself
05:20to get better. He has done a lot of, like, therapy and work in the prison, so I still feel like
05:28he's not the person he was, you know? He's changed.
05:31But how did you guys know each other? How?
05:35I found him online because there's, like, pen pal websites where you can write letters to people in prison.
05:42I wasn't supposed to fall in love, though. That was not the plan. That just happened.
05:48My previous relationships have been rocky. When I tried to get into dating again, it was very hard
05:55and just decided to be alone for a while.
05:58I have had pen pals before. I like helping people. The day I started talking to him was
06:05basically because I was stood up at Valentine's. And I was really, really upset, of course,
06:11because who stands someone up on Valentine's?
06:16Here's, like, the stuff that I have gotten from him. This one, he drew his hand and he wrote,
06:24Marry me. That was before we even was engaged. Like, he sent this long ago and he was like,
06:28Marry me. Elskedai, which is Norwegian for I love you. He remembered that one.
06:34Inside here is, like, a song he wrote for me. A shirt for me.
06:40Which he wore so I can smell him. I had seen it on TikTok that people have been talking to people in
06:51prison and having pen pals. So, it was more like I wanted to vent to someone. I just wanted to talk
06:56to someone, but without the close contact. Initially, finding him on this page called
07:02Ride a prisoner. And he looked interesting. And because I came in talking to him thinking I would
07:08never meet him, I was quite honest and open. In a way, I wouldn't have been with someone face to face.
07:15I have talked to more people than just Justin, but I have never been romantically involved or interested
07:21like that. And, like, when I started talking to him, that wasn't even on my mind. He's my first
07:28prison boyfriend. Yeah. Here is him as a kid. Water skiing. He was so cute. Look at that.
07:36So, I think that's very cute that he's sending me his, like, childhood pictures for me to take
07:40care of. Like, that's a lot of trust. Oh, I forgot. I didn't show you. I actually used his handwriting
07:50from one of the letters and I tattooed his name on me. I'm new at tattooing, so I didn't do it
07:57deep enough. But yeah, that's his name. I just have to redo it. So, when I went to see him in Arizona,
08:05I was actually in the prison visiting him. Yeah. How was it? It's different for sure. I mean,
08:14it was weird. So, we're getting married in the prison, actually. We're not waiting till he comes out.
08:20Oh, okay. Why did you keep a secret from me?
08:27Well, not anymore. You seem kind of like you're not too happy. I must process this. Yeah, I get that.
08:38Because you have not told me anything about him? No. Not at all? No. You did send me a picture one
08:45time. That's it. Not the name. Nothing. Yeah. I have so many questions. How does the sex work thing
08:57working down in prison? His prison, you are not allowed to have intercourse at all. You can kiss
09:03and hug at the start and the end of a visit and then you can hold hands over the table the rest of
09:08the visit. That's all. But you can still do the texting and the phone calls. Yeah, yeah. Just...
09:15Don't tell my parents!
09:23So, now I have a prison shirt. Yeah, it smells like him too. It smells like prison.
09:31Speechless. Yeah, speechless. But every love story has a history.
09:38Hmm. Mm-hmm.
09:43I don't think it's good to judge before you know them.
09:50I think it's sad that people are judging. I mean, I can understand people being skeptical.
09:55That's fine. My family, they're like... I feel like they're supportive, but they're skeptical.
10:01They're worried if I'm gonna get hurt or used. They're just thinking that I am naive. They think he's
10:08gonna use me and take money from me, which he never had. He actually sent me money so that I could visit
10:13him. They're worried about what kind of person he is. My mom is kind of like back and forth on it,
10:19but that's more like her worry about the outside world and not me and Justin.
10:24I think it's gonna work out because we get the distance and we get to know each other on a whole
10:33other level than someone who is like in direct contact. Hopefully he gets out sooner. If not,
10:40I mean, that's fine. We got two years to plan and build our future. Being judgmental about it, it's not
10:46healthy. You should give someone the opportunity to let them show who they are before you judge them
10:53just because of something that happened in the past. Why would you not let someone grow and get
10:59better and give them a chance?
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