An Almost Perfect Marriage Fell Into Trouble Forty Years Later

An almost perfect marriage fell into trouble 40 years later. A couple from New York City had one of the best love stories you have heard. Bobby and Cheryl love. What made the word almost appear is that in a previous statement, a strain was caused in their relationship. Just like any other family, their marriage and family was going so great until a secret from Bobby's past life was discovered by Cheryl. Another typical morning for the love family, Cheryl woke up first and decided to start the day by cooking breakfast. As she heard a knock come from the door, she stopped and peeked through the window to see who was outside their house. A police officer was in front of their home. Not like most people who would typically feel anxious when police officers suddenly appeared outside their home, Cheryl assumed their home would be mistaken only for the house of the Crazy Lady is the name that the neighbor who lives next to them used to call. The police had always visited her regularly since she began living in that place. That's why Cheryl thought the cops were merely making a mistake, but she was mistaken. She opened the front door and found out 12 uniformed police officers were waiting for her. That was the moment she started feeling a certain nervousness in her system. Cheryl didn't know that something was about to happen which would change their lives forever. Looking at the uniforms that were worn by police officers, Cheryl learned they came from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They asked her permission to go inside. Cheryl, who had no idea what was going on at all, just said yes. Quickly, the group of officers went inside looking for the bedroom. Who they found inside the bedroom was Bobby. One of the police officers stepped up and demanded his name. The husband responded nervously, Bobby Love. Cheryl was shaken. She said, they went straight back to the bedroom and walked up to Bobby. She then heard the officers ask her husband, what's your name? To which he answered, Bobby Love. But the cops were not happy with his reply. They repeated the question and made it clear his real and original name was what they were asking for. It took Bobby a couple of seconds before answering the question from the police. From his own mouth came two names, Walter Miller, and the storytelling begins. Completely confused, Cheryl had no clue on how to react to all this. She pleaded and asked what was going on. As he was being pushed out the door, Bobby said, this goes way back Cheryl, back before I met you. Originally, Walter Miller was from North Carolina. During the 1960s, he grew up and shared that his family used to live in a life of less fortune. The fact that their family was really huge, two parents and eight children, was one factor that made it really hard for their parents to raise them. The secret of Walter Miller began from the day he went to the concert of Sam Cook. At this concert, he shared what he had experienced. He said the singer's fans really enjoyed themselves dancing to the music, so much so that their idol had to call them out just to sit down. Walter and the other fans had really enjoyed it, until something happened. Walter said some words of swear and accidentally said it out loud, but it was meant only as a joke. They were clearly heard by the security officers and they had him arrested. He was kicked out of the concert and went to the nearest police station directly. It was not his lucky day, really. The incident at the concert was the very first time he got a record for doing anything against the law. However, Walter still did several awful things like stealing other people's purses, checks and wallets through different tactics. All those little robberies felt like a routine to him already. He said, I lifted purses from unlocked cars. I was stealing government checks out of mailboxes. I got bolder and bolder. He had committed smaller crimes frequently. It was all he could do to get money fast. Well, he was having another very bad day when he was caught breaking into the band room of his school, stealing some valuables. The gesture sent him into a detention center for juveniles. It was not like the lenient detention centers in the movies that you see. Walter also came up against some serious repercussions. Walter didn't like any experience from the detention center. He was suffering from everything from the treatment to the meals served in the place. First, let's talk about food. Walter described the meal as being really bad. He also shared his experiences of being beaten up violently. I still have scars from all the times I got beat up, he said, despite the fact that it had been years since he'd stayed at the center. All those memories and experiences will forever remain on him and with him. Everything in the detention center that he was experiencing really pushed him to plan an escape. What more inspired him was the sounds of the trains outside that he kept listening to every night. This was how Walter began building a plan to get out of that place without being caught. To accomplish his escape from the juvenile detention center, he needed to know where the train was going and the perfect opportunity to perform it. Because of strict security, the plan was almost impossible to achieve. One night, the guard who was securing the doors turned his back to check the time. Walter knew this was his chance and had been waiting for this opportunity of getting his freedom. He quickly ran and dashed going to the exit doors. He states, I ran out the back door towards the sound of that whistle and that was the first place I ever escaped from. But it was only the start. Walter managed to pull off a serious crime, a prison escape of sorts. The only thing that he wanted to do was get into the train station. Without any idea where the track would bring him, the most important thing was to get away from the detention center. He was able to manage and get on the train that came from North Carolina and went to Washington D.C. With all the trauma he got from the juvenile detention center, Walter swore to live a new and better life, especially as he was very fortunate to have the opportunity to reestablish himself in Washington D.C. He had a brother who lived there, so he found a place to stay. He began going back to school again too, high school. Well, I don't really know if it was the right choice for him to go to that particular school because it was the place where he met the people who led him to do bad things again. Once again, however, Walter became part of the wrong crowd. As a result, his life took a turn for the dramatic yet again. He couldn't seem to stay on the right path. It was almost as if he attracted trouble somehow. Still, this was the start of something bigger. From the little robbery he used to do before stealing wallets, checks, purses, and other items from other people, his new circle of friends led him to take part in bank robberies. They managed to steal several banks at first and were not caught. The trick they used leaves Washington D.C. and head straight to North Carolina. He explained that they still went thereafter every robbery because there wasn't strict enforcement of laws. One day they decided to rob another bank. Unfortunately, its security has outsmarted them. It turned out the bank had no regular alarm. Instead, it had the silent high tech alarm that alarmed an employee who immediately managed to call 911. This was the first time their party got captured. He knew the feeling of being arrested and being kept in a prison-like place. That's why, by running away from the bank, Walter tried his luck to escape as he saw all his friends locked in handcuffs. However, this time, Genie did not grant his wish. He was shot by a police officer who also instantly put him in handcuffs. Their party went on a few trials as they were supported by their attorneys. The jury ruled and declared them all guilty. They were given the consequence of a total of 25 to 30 years in prison. It seemed like fate was a real thing because not only was he sentenced to prison, but at that time, his mother also died. Although his lawyer did everything he could to get him out of prison or at least lower the years to which he was sentenced, nothing happened and he still had to wait 25 to 30 years before he got out of prison. Walter was always the risk taker and planned an escape again. The plan's first goal was to move him to a minimum security prison so he could escape. He was patient for a few months. He also avoided all activities that could lead him to do something stupid that could destroy his clean jail record. Well, unlike the prison he had previously stayed in, his hard work and discipline got himself transferred to a facility with a much lower level of security. The new prison he was in felt more like a camp compared to the maximum security one he was previously in. While the facility also had high fences and gun towers looming nearby, it came with a larger sense of He was in shock when he landed on the new facility to which he had been moved. He saw the prisoners staying there gaining much more freedom compared to those staying in the prison from which he came. At that time, his relatives and friends already had the ability to visit him. He also had the ability to select what activity he was going to engage in. He chose to spend time hosting a radio show available at the facility. He hated admitting it, but that time he was really enjoying his stay in the facility. Also, to think he could try to host a radio show that had always been one of his dreams. He was almost close to dropping the escape he had already arranged when he was accused of swearing at the captain securing the cell in which he lived. It was all a mistake and the one who cursed the captain was really his co-prisoner. The captain was so ashamed of what had happened, he was too furious to listen to an argument from Walter that the allegation was false. While it did the damage, captains generally wouldn't take seriously swearing aimed at them and just ignore it, but Walter was very unlucky because this particular captain was different. The captain had no sympathy for him. He had written and submitted tons of negative reports about him. After a few weeks, Walter was sent back to the prison with full security for all those papers. The negative reports kept piling up until I was one mark away from being sent back up the hill, Walter said. Since he didn't want to go back, he came to the decision that it was time for him to figure out a way to escape. He was also assigned, as a punishment, to a task that most inmates hated, cleaning up scattered trash on the streets. He had to suffer, along with other inmates, from all the more difficult tasks associated with street cleaning. He even said he and other prisoners, who were also assigned to clean up the streets, were thrown at him by rude people with milkshakes and hamburgers. Months were already gone by and he was still assigned to this task. He could no longer bear it. All the pain impelled him to plan a prison escape. This was a major escape scheme and much more dangerous than his escape from the juvenile detention center. He has gathered all the knowledge that he already knew to construct a perfect plan. He has noticed for the past few months that the day when they're usually guided by the laziest and lenient guard, it happened every Tuesday. The knowledge had a big part to play in the scheme implementing the escape on a Tuesday. He just had to wait for the perfect chance. They used to ride a bus to the place they would clean up. Another piece of knowledge that helped him develop his strategy was his discovery of the location where the bus normally would stop. It would be the place he was going to get off the bus carefully and just run away. That was going to be my last night in prison, Walter said. He went through his plan one more time and decided that the best time was now. He felt ready, but how would he be able to manage to pull off another escape? Next Tuesday came and even though he also felt nervous, Walter had a great feeling about it. He woke up early and prepared all his belongings, especially his clothes. He was very happy to see that the one who guided them was the laziest guard that day and he wasn't strict at all. So the first part of his plan had already been tested. It seemed as if his plan would succeed. He set off to the seats at the back of the bus. A part of his escape strategy was to sit near the back entrance. Which was also used as the bus exit during an emergency. The drivers already jumped onto the gas and left for their destination. Walter was also quick in stepping out of the bus through the back door. As soon as it made a quick stop, he hid to change his clothes in a safe place then ran away immediately. Quickly, Walter stripped off his prison clothing before he ran deeper into the The sound of sirens became more and more distant the further he got. As his adrenaline kicked in, he kept running. He refused to stop. He knew this would be his best bet. He managed to run away from all the police officers who were tracking him for an hour and slowed down completely when he started hearing the sirens of police cars. When he realized he had already managed to escape from prison, he asked for money from some people and he was lucky enough to collect enough to give him a bus ride. Wary of the local area, he went cautiously to the nearest bus station and rode on a bus to New York City. Within the bus, the transformation of his name and personality occurred. A woman who was sitting next to him was a very nice person who began a conversation by asking for his name. He realized that it would be a very good decision to change his name. It was for this reason that he introduced himself as Bobby Love. Stepping out of the bus and finding himself in New York City streets, he promised himself as Bobby Love to start a new life again. Walter, I mean Bobby, was able to book himself a hotel room to live in for a couple of nights with all the money strangers gave him. He began living his new identity by applying for a birth certificate, a driver's license, and a social security number, which he all managed to get due to his greatness with lies. At that time, he had no job and he was running out of money, so he had to sleep on the streets for a while. He spent a couple of days finding a job and ended up doing many jobs. His hard work earned him a cheap hotel room and sufficient money to purchase food. He wanted to raise more, so he'd been searching for an extra job. In the 1980s, the Baptist Medical Center hired him to work in their cafeteria. It turned out that accepting that job was one of the biggest decisions he'd ever made throughout his life, because that was the place where he'd met his life's love, Cheryl. The love story of Bobby and Cheryl began when they went out on a date, hitting the cinema to watch Prince's film Purple Rain, and then going to a concert featuring Gladys Knight and the Pips. Bobby said he fell so hard for Cheryl because she was what he'd been waiting for for an entirely opposite version of himself. Cheryl was a gentle, loving, innocent child. She was their dream child. It seemed like everything was going great in Bobby's love life. He married Cheryl happily on March 30th, 1985. They made an announcement after a few months that they were pregnant with a baby girl, who they eventually called Jasmine. After a few years, they also welcomed another baby girl into this country and called her Jessica. The love family spent 11 years full of joy after the second child was born. Little did they realize that two angels were already about to grace them. Cheryl gave birth to his twins, Justin and Jordan. Bobby lived a great life, being a good father to her children, a caring husband to his wife, a hardworking employee working two jobs, and an involved church member. For all the challenges he'd faced in juggling his careers, other errands, and his family, he's always made sure his family needs to come first. There was no time when Bobby stopped worrying about his secret of escaping from jail, even though it had already been done decades before. He wanted to let his wife know everything that happened in his life, but he loved her so much that he couldn't afford to lose her and destroy all the family he had created. That's why he didn't have the courage to talk to her about his dark secret. It wasn't just Bobby who dreamed about his tragic past. His family knew all the things he had done, including when he changed his name as Bobby Love and managed to keep all his lies for himself. They never lost contact with each other. He then moved back to North Carolina until he learned that one of his parents had passed away. He was very nervous that he was going to get caught there, but his family... Love overwhelmed his fear. Okay, returning to his hometown may have been the thing that prompted the authorities to pursue him again. Perhaps a policeman saw him. Perhaps somebody thought he'd come back to town. We never would have known. He said, that part of my life was buried back in North Carolina, and it wasn't coming back. Soon enough, however, he would be proven wrong. He never quite felt like he was in the clear, but he thought he was safe in his new life. Cheryl shared in an interview about how she considered odd things about her husband. She said Bobby would feel very nervous and afraid of all the people walking down the streets every time they got out of the door. He also felt very scared when somebody asked him for those directions. One of the strangest things she found about Bobby was that he never liked being part of any photo. He was just terrified by cameras. Cheryl said you could see that he was a bit on edge in general. He looked worried. There are times when people would stop and ask him anything mundane, like directions. He would always seem spooked. Cheryl disclosed moments when she almost gave up. Bobby would just cut himself off in a really odd way while they were having a quarrel. She said when things got difficult, she had returned to interact with the Lord by praying as a tool for coping. She didn't know what to expect. Would she feel sorry for her husband or hate him because he didn't tell her? All she knew was that her feelings were badly hurt. Having her husband arrested by police officers assigned to her by the Federal Investigation Bureau, she fell into pieces. Cheryl described, my world came crashing down, and also admitted that she was more hurt than embarrassed. She felt as if she had been living a lie. Her mind was so full of doubt about her relationship. She continued, Bobby had deceived me for all those years. There was no truth in our house. In another interview, Cheryl said she was like I was in a movie, a lifetime movie. Despite her complex feelings, she still felt the need to do something. Bobby Love was immediately held in Rikers Island, the main jail complex in New York City. No final decisions were yet made regarding the consequences he would face after escaping from prison. The only thing Bobby surely thought he would be sentenced to was to stay in jail for the remaining 10 years left of his service. With the help of an attorney, Cheryl thought of all the possible consequences that her husband might face. They were all serious. She also remembered when she saw her husband behind bars for the first time. She said that he couldn't utter a single thing. All he did was cry out to her. Cheryl admitted there was a part of her that felt furious with her husband for not telling her anything about his past. But her love for him would still outweigh all of her anger and fears. She decided to be in that battle with Bobby. She never had to leave his side. Cheryl said to Bobby, Bobby Love, I married you for better or for worse, and now this is the worst. With that in mind, she began working on her next move. Cheryl wasn't going to just watch her husband's life wilt away in prison. Cheryl became stronger as a wife to her husband and a mother to their children. She was thinking of different plans for getting him out of jail or lessening the years he was sentenced to prison. She wrote a letter telling them how good Bobby was ever since she met him. She also asked other people and her children to write, and those letters were sent to the governor and President Obama. She states, I didn't know a thing about Walter Miller, but I told them all about Bobby Love. She knew without a doubt that her husband had changed and saw what he really has become, a brand new person. After 12 months of staying in New York City's main jail complex, the parole board came and decided to set Bobby free. With all of his wife's efforts and his excellent record inside the prison might help the parole board make that decision. Whatever drove them to free Bobby from prison, no one knows. It may be possible all they knew was on that day, a miracle happened in the Love family's lives. After discovering the full and real story of everything that he did in the past as Walter Miller, Cheryl still forgave him and gave him a second chance. They decided to continue a normal life as if nothing changed. The day he was set free, I sat him down and I asked, what is it? Are we the Loves or are we the Millers? And he said, we love, we love. The family even became stronger because of everything and since then, every member of the Love family had moved on and lived a peaceful and happy life. Now that Bobby's secret has been revealed, the couple felt like they were even more connected now. Cheryl is finally in the marriage she had always wanted and their lives are now completely free.