A Contagious Smile Podcast
A Contagious Smile is a powerful platform dedicated to uplifting and empowering special needs families and survivors of domestic violence. Through heartfelt stories, we shine a light on the journeys of extraordinary individuals who have overcome unimaginable challenges. Their triumphs serve as a testament to resilience and strength, inspiring others to rediscover their own inner light. Each episode features candid interviews with survivors, advocates, and experts who provide valuable resources and insights to support those on their own paths to healing and empowerment. Join us as we celebrate the power of resilience, the beauty of shared stories, and the unstoppable spirit of those who turn adversity into hope. Let us guide you in rekindling your spirit, because every smile tells a story of courage and transformation.
A Contagious Smile Podcast
Love, legacy, and the courage to prepare for the worst
A single phone call flipped our week, our plans, and our priorities—and taught us how “having a will” can still leave a family drowning in decisions. We open the door to our real-time experience of sudden loss: caring for Dad, sorting thirty years of collectibles, and navigating the awkward surge of relatives who appear for stuff but not support. From stocking a pantry to turning down sheets so a walker can slide in, we trace the small acts that bring dignity back, then get practical about the paperwork that actually reduces stress.
We break down the essentials: medical and financial powers of attorney, living wills, and clear beneficiary designations for accounts, cars, and property. We explain how probate gets triggered, why transfer‑on‑death (TOD) and payable‑on‑death (POD) tools matter, and how a simple conversation about cremation, ashes, and sentimental items can save months of conflict. The legal steps are straightforward once you know them; the relief of fewer forms and faster access is priceless when your family just needs time to breathe.
Our focus also turns to safety and resilience. October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and we’re launching Dear Silence, You Lost—now we get the last word on Amazon, with proceeds funding scholarships for the Contagious Smile Academy. We share free survivor kits, Safe Home resources, and masterclasses you can download today, plus programs for caregivers, special needs families, and kids. Along the way we talk honestly about body image, confidence, and learning to ignore the stare that tries to shrink us. If you do one thing after listening, make a document, name a decision‑maker, or share a resource with someone who needs it. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s procrastinating on their paperwork, and leave a review to help more people find help when they need it most.
Good evening and welcome to another episode of King David's Well Unstoppable. My handsome, wonderful soulmate husband, Erin here. Hi babe.
SPEAKER_01:How do y'all?
SPEAKER_03:So I want to take a moment and say we apologize again. We've been really bad about getting these out on time. We had a death in the family, very unexpected. And so we literally had to rush out of town to go and help. And it's it's been a lot. So please, you know, this was totally unexpected. If you don't have your affairs in order, your will, your living will, your power of attorney, your medical power of attorney, please, please get your affairs in order because what a difference it makes. And even if your affairs, what you think are in order, they might not be because um this person had a will and a power of attorney and a living will and all of that, but there were some um independent documents that most people don't think about that could have been done that would make things a little easier. I mean, everything is in there, but it can still be easier for your loved ones, and it's something to think about.
SPEAKER_04:So enough about that.
SPEAKER_01:No, keep going.
SPEAKER_04:What else would we say about it?
SPEAKER_01:What what else would we say? Gar. Love my life. Give me the microphone. There's plenty to say about this. I hope that somewhere these individuals are listed. Because you pieces of shit cockroaches that only come out after the crumbs have fallen, right? That your mother has died, you come out of the woodworks for her stuff, for the stuff that she and her husband, which will be my father, have gathered over 30 freaking years. You come out of the woodworks for little scraps, but where were you when they were alive?
SPEAKER_03:Well, your dad is still alive, they thought.
SPEAKER_01:Where were you during all this arrangements of the hospital, the crimination? Uh you know, you you've got all this going on. Where were you? Oh, you're not there.
SPEAKER_03:It's not hey, how can I help? It's what can I take? I mean, and and that's been what is so shocking. I mean, we went down there and I've always loved your dad, even though thank you for letting me vent. We're not done, you're gonna have at it.
SPEAKER_00:No, I'm done.
SPEAKER_03:But what I'm trying to say is, you know, I've always loved your dad, even though he was first introduced to me as a I don't know, um, somebody that he wasn't, a completely different character than who he is. And it was dumbfounding. And then we get down there, and they have 33 years of stuff, if you want to say. I mean, you know, she was a hoarder, safe to say, right? He is a little bit of a hoarder, but they don't hoard like trash and garbage and food and stuff like that. It's collectibles, a lot of Christmas decorations, right? Like all year long Christmas decorations. There's beautiful things, there's just a lot of it, right? So we spent the entire time we've been there um helping clean up, go to the store and get groceries because he didn't have any food in the house, um, you know, taking care of him, making arrangements, things of that nature. And there are things that needed to get done. And it's just, it was just my husband and I and our daughter, and then his half-brother came down and helped for a couple of days. But he's right, like we couldn't get other people um that lived like 500 feet away to come and and support and help in any way, but you know, now it's like cockroaches are coming out, you know, about like what's happening with this, and what about this, and what about this? And and you know, we're taking everything to sell for him, we're taking everything to help him generate some, you know, other money coming in to sell these things. We're not keeping them, we're helping him to what what am I looking for here at T UI? Help with the estate, I guess.
SPEAKER_01:We're helping him mentally also because we're getting him out of the home that him and his wife put together for the past 30 years. It is it it tears him up to be there. So he doesn't want to be there without her, which is understandable. So he's he's gonna live with us, and we're gonna make sure that he has a a happy and right. But you know, my wife was right at the very beginning of this podcast, she said, make sure you have all your paperwork in order. There's a reason for this, guys. It is so stressful trying to gather all the signatures and and acquire stuff. Uh, you've got so much to do after that you don't need to do this and that at the same time.
SPEAKER_03:But I mean, her her fares were in order, right? So that's not the problem. The problem is is like the tedious little things, like there's a few other cars that she had in her name, for instance. And so even though you know the will states what it states, you still have to probate certain things in order to get that taken care of to her wishes, which instead of doing like a you know, transfer of deed or something like that prior to. I mean, yes, it still goes to who she named as the beneficiary of each item. However, if you did a transfer of deed, it would it would cut out a lot of the middleman, I guess, is what we're trying to say.
SPEAKER_01:So, I mean, get your stuff together and I mean it it to me, it seems like one of those freaking movies where where you've got you know eight kids and you know dad passes away and all of them were at odds with each other, and then once dad passes, they all come together and they say, Okay, what's fine? Okay, I'm firstborn, I should get the house. I'm secondborn, I should get you know the Ferrari. And it's it's just where were you when they were alive? Where were you helping clean up the yard or helping after a hurricane? I had to go cut down several trees after a year and a half after a hurricane passed through uh my grandfather's property, which is right next door to my father's property, which is being rented out to her son. My stepmother's son is living on that property, refused to clean up, refused to help. Whatever he is. So you know what? It just it irks me.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, you know, here's the thing we're hours and hours and hours, hours away. It's not a five minute, 10-minute, 20-minute, two-hour, four-hour, whatever drive. And when they lost power years ago, we in the middle of the night, the minute we found out about it, we went right down there and got them.
SPEAKER_01:Like before that night when they had no AC.
SPEAKER_04:They had no AC, we went right down and got them.
SPEAKER_01:And we understand from a medical standpoint, you have to have AC.
SPEAKER_04:And then there was another time we went down there and brought them back in the middle of the night, and then um it's just ridiculous.
SPEAKER_01:People don't appreciate their their loved ones or family while they're alive, they just won't after the fact.
SPEAKER_02:Well, some I understand, like some parents, if you have nothing to do, if they're asshole narcissistic tricks, then that's a whole different ballgame, and that's a different story.
SPEAKER_03:Your dad is didn't you write a book about that? Last night, let's not go there. Um, but you know, your your dad is sweet, even though the perception of his character was portrayed different. Oh, it was awful. It was awful. And you know, we made it very clear to him what our intentions were, you know, when we were down there, is we want him to have an unconditional, loving, supportive family that is gonna be there for him, that's gonna take care of him, that's gonna love him, and you know, give faith a grandfather that she so desperately cracking me up. Oh, and needs, oh, oh, can I please they're they're joking around now. She has another ally on her team, and he's hilarious, but we have no doubt now where my husband gets his nasty dirty mind or math because grandpa is just like that. They are so much alike, it's eerie, it's eerie, and the stories that he he shares, it is eerie, it's fun, it's funny, it's eerie.
SPEAKER_01:And that's what he needs right now. He needs he needs love, he needs laughter in his life. Uh, he's ready to move on, you know. Even though this just happened, he's ready to move on.
SPEAKER_02:Not move on his head, but right so put the claws back in, but to get rid of the hurt, right?
SPEAKER_04:And that's what we want to help him do.
SPEAKER_03:And it was so nice because he was just so like appreciative. Like we went down there and was like, Come on, we're gonna go get you something to eat, or like we went and got him, you know, a biscuit for breakfast. And then I went to the grocery store and I filled up his kitchen and pantry with food because he didn't have anything, you know. And then when I was like, Can I get you a sandwich? Can I get you a sandwich? He's like, What? And and it's just this like little things before we left, you know, we had cleaned out his bedroom. Um, and before we left, I went in there and I made his bed, and I just had this little daddy Michael, Michael Dad on my shoulder. That was like, How the hell did you expect me to get in the bed if you made it like that? So he he's older and he uses a walker. So I was like, you know what, smart ass, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. So I turned the bed down so he could just get in it, right? And so he was just in tears when he saw and he was like, You didn't have to do that. I'm like, you're right, I didn't have to do that, but I did it, you know, it's those little tiny things like my husband. I love when he leaves me posting notes. It's the best, sweetest thing ever. Does he do it often? No, but I love when he does, and it's the best, it's so sweet, and it's just little things like that that remind you that you're valued and cherished and love. It does, but oh my god, the stories, and and he's even said, I'm gonna corrupt my my granddaughter gone there, like, oh, too late, too late, and you know, she's on cloud nine, she's so excited to have him coming, and you know, he he was just enamored with her, and he offered her this bracelet, and you know, my our daughter, I will say my our daughter is so sweet, she doesn't care like what it is or the value of it or anything like that. She was so taken that he thought enough to you know say, I want to give you this. She was so excited to have it, and it's you know, like she didn't spend time with her her uncle when he came down to help, and they were laughing and cutting up and having fun, and you know, we were all sitting around night after night after night, just laughing and telling stories and bonding and spending time together, and just you know, just doing things that nobody does anymore, and and it's so critical that people do those things, it's so critical, and so many people are more all about their freaking electronics than they are about the people that are in the room, and it's just irritating beyond measure.
SPEAKER_01:So, Victoria Posting. I was hoping you were gonna remember that.
SPEAKER_03:Let's not talk about the note we found while we were there.
SPEAKER_01:So, what would help our listeners in this situation as far as wills, power of attorneys?
SPEAKER_03:Well, they need to make sure that they first of all have one of the most crucial things is power of attorney, a medical power of attorney because they're completely separate, right? I'm not a lawyer, however, I do create you know the power of attorneys and the living will and the wills, and you can reach out to me with the whole victoria at a contagious smile.com. And it's I'm not a lawyer, but I I do many, many of these. I I was um and did go to school for being a paralegal, but you go and you have all these, and that way you don't you don't have to worry about burdening your family with oh my god, do we put her on or him on a feeding tube because they are incapacitated at the moment, or do we put them on a ventilator? Do we give them antibiotics if they do or do not want? Do we let them be in a vegetated state? How long do they stay in a vegetated state? These are, you know, I like I'm very methodical. I I want every question possible because I don't want to put the burden on a family, like for instance, our family is very medical, right? So a family that's not, or you have to sit there and think about it. I don't want my husband to be like, does my wife want a feedy to? You know, and then to carry the guilt of I have to make the decision. Is it the right one or is it the wrong one? Am I making the right decision for my wife? Is this what she would want? Um, these are decisions that you know you should make, and that way you're not putting this burden, even though it's really not a well, it can be a decision on the family. You're not making them carry this.
SPEAKER_00:It's already stressful enough.
SPEAKER_03:It is, and here's the thing we had no idea that she was even that she was even sick. I mean, we didn't have the first clue, and then we get a phone call that says she passed away, and that's you know what we got with that phone call. My husband's mouth is wide open.
SPEAKER_01:No, okay, so you advise uh first thing is medical power of attorney. Yes, you've got a will, then you've got you've got a living will, you've got a last will and testament. Correct. You've got um executor, the beneficiaries, right?
SPEAKER_03:But then like if you're leaving your house and your house is saying in one spouse's name, but not in both spouses' name. Do a transfer of deeds or um you have to go through those things and figure out why.
SPEAKER_01:Oh I'm sorry, we had a technical difficulty there. Um, yeah, so um houses in in whoever's name, vehicles, you know, all this is very stressful after the fact because you you may or may not have signatures done. Um if you don't, then like my wife said, things go through probate, and that could take a couple years. So, y'all, for for your sake, for a peace of mind, uh get these paperworks and these documents done while your loved one, your family member is still in the right state of mind, still have their faculties, and they're able to do it. Is it morbid? Yes, it's it's very morbid. Dad, let's sit down and have a conversation about your death. Okay, let's talk about your funeral arrangements, your burial. You want to be cremated? Uh you know, talk to me, Dad. You know, that yes, it's morbid, but it's necessary.
SPEAKER_03:Where do you want your crucial?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely necessary. It's got to be done.
SPEAKER_03:These things we'll figure out. The ashes, where do you want them? You know, who do you want them to go to? These are all questions that I answer. And when I fill out these documents, it's so important. Refresh to go through and look at everything and understand. Um it's a lot going on, you know, there's a lot to be done. But also, I want to take a minute, and you know, I hate, hate, babe, babes, I hate to use this as a leeway, but to today, as this releases, is October 1st and it's domestic wild.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And you know, a lot of people don't survive domestic months, right? And that's another reason to have your affairs in order so that anything you have set up for your kids, god forbid, you you have it taken care of. You have no way of the asshole of the abuser taking what belongs to your children. You know, we just today are launching uh the Dear Silence, You Lost. Now we get the last word. It is a collection of the most beautiful survivors using their voice, telling their story, using this for growth for other people. That is on Amazon, and right now it's on special for 1899. That book is also in an ebook. You could also do it as an ebook, but the 1899, that entire you know, that entire amount goes to the scholarships for the Contagious Smile Academy. And right now we have a$497 masterclass about this abuse as well that coincide with the book, and it's free. I'm doing it free, and then I have the I can already get smell. Then I have the dear silence. If you go into the academy, you go to a contagious smile dot M as in Mary N as in Nancy dot co and join free. Then you go to the Dear Silence, which is all under the Safe Haven Phoenix Center collection. So you have the$497 uh masterclasses free. I did a Dear Silence Survivor kit where it has all this information on things that you can do, how to start getting stuff prepared for when it happens, um, how to get yourself safe. That whole kit is free. You can download that. There's PDFs in there, you can photo screen that and lock that picture away in your phone. That is done. There's another one called Safe Home that is also under the Dear Silence collection. That was a$297 value course for free. These are all going together for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. And then if you go in there and you have a hankering to say, you know what, there's a lot of stuff in here that can be very valuable for anyone, not just myself, but if you have$5, you have$10 to offer a scholarship for somebody, you know, a child, a teenager, an adult, um, a survivor of narcissism, a survivor of verbal, emotional, financial, physical, all of this, sexual abuse, then we provide the scholarship and waive the fees for everybody else. And we are doing this for profit. We are doing this literally just to break even and be able to support and pay for the platforms to which we have to carry it on. I've never taken a paycheck. My husband has never taken a paycheck, but we want to be able to pay it forward. And if we do not get donations, we will not be able to continue at this level to do what we are doing. So it's really imperative that people see it's October, it's domestic violence awareness. And you know, I'm so proud to say that it was eight years ago this month, eight years ago this month that I released Who Kick First. And uh NBC did a story about it, and it was amazing. And uh I was honored to be a part of it, and our daughter got an innate for her work. Here goes our phones yelling at me for saying that. Uh, but it is true, and it has been eight years since that release, and there's been many another book out since. Um, and now to say that we've gone from that to building this academy, and right now there's over 150 courses, most of them are free. Uh, we will only be able to do that with the continuing support of people who want to make donations. So please think about it. Like we went on the drive, we were exhausted and we went through Starbucks, right? And just one little coffee, one coffee was$5.25 or something like that for the coffee. And we each got one. So three of us, right? And normally we would never do that, but we're driving and we're trying to be safe, and you know, we're driving down there, the three of us and the two dogs, and it was like$30 or something crazy. And it was because our daughter has to eat. Um, and so she ended up getting like a couple Danishes or whatever it was with it, whatever the case may be. And um that's what ended up happening. But if you can drive through and get a coffee for$5.25, you could please, please, please think about the fact that one in four women, so you, your mom, your sister, or your daughter. Did I get four there? I'm pretty tired. You, your mom, your sister, your daughter. Yeah, there's four. Hello. That there's one in four go through some type of abuse. And what if it was your next door neighbor? What if it was your best friend? What if it was your sister or your daughter? And they didn't have the means. Well, guess what? I've had women that say, and I've had men in the community, I've had men, I've had people in the LGBTQ community who have said, I don't have five dollars to pay for this. I don't ask questions, okay. I give them the code and they go, because you know, here's the thing if you're gonna lie about needing a you know, a scholarship for a course about survival of abuse, then I'm gonna give it to you regardless, right? Right? And if somebody's gonna lie about that, it's five dollars, and that's just that's a very conscious right, it's a five-dollar course or a five-dollar fee, and I'll waive it for anybody. You know, what are they gonna do with the course? They're gonna take it, and I see that they take it, so it makes a big difference. And anybody who needs to go in there and and get that help, get that support, and it's not just courses in there about domestic violence, you know. A lot of people they don't realize that when you've been through abuse, you're in recovery, and a lot of people may not agree with that, but you are you are in recovery. I'm in recovery, you're in recovery, and so there are courses in there all about recovery as well. And so there's something in there for everybody. And I'm sorry, I always have to talk about it because you're a boy. But we have the stucco squad for kids, special needs kids, so flipping cute, so sweet, so cute. We have caregiver courses, special needs parents courses. I've even done two courses that are huge about special needs families, how they can make ends meet, how they can do side hustles and do extra jobs on the side, how they can find the way to do this, um, from starting it up to launching and everything in between. It's all on there. I mean, and it's free to join. So, what have you got to lose? People will pay$500,000,$500 to$8,000 a month for these shots to lose weight, but they're doing so much harm to your body. And people are doing all of this stuff to change the look of themselves on the outside: baked nails, fake hair, fake tan, fake eyelashes, botox, this, injections here, butt lifts here, breast augmentation. You know, you look at this and you think this, hey, to each their own. Why can't you do something for yourself that helps your insides, that helps your peace of mind, that helps you realize how amazing you are, and to help you get over those humps. Everybody goes through it. Everybody. We didn't know a week ago that his dad's wife, his stepmom, was gonna pass away. Like we had not a first clue. It's a phone call, you know. Think about it. You're having dinner, everything's great, or you're at work and and everything is fine, and it's hold on a minute, my dad's calling, and it's you'll never believe what is that. It's that fast, right? And you just have do something for yourself, do something for yourself. Who cares? Oh, I'm about to eat this. Who cares what everybody else thinks? And I'm being sorry. I mean, who and I don't want let me trick my let me reward that because right now I'm not being sorry. My husband's making me eat those corns. It's it's literally why why what? I have body dysphoria. I will be the very first to admit it. I can't walk by a mirror and not be grotesque by what I see, and I'm the first to admit it, you know.
SPEAKER_01:So they taste good.
SPEAKER_03:No, I'm not eating it. But here's the thing: I used to be told you used to turn heads, now you turn stomachs.
SPEAKER_01:But you you said the word used to correct in the past, correct, many, many years ago. Correct. Okay, so why give a shit now what other people think? That's what all of our courses are for, is to help well then have somebody hypnotize you, have somebody teach you.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, as soon as I know what you said in that court from that.
SPEAKER_01:Well, as soon as I get a hypnot hypnotism, a hypnotism.
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna make I'm gonna ask him to tell you. No, let's keep the harping on this. Talk about we're always on the same page.
SPEAKER_00:We're on the same page, right? Right now, we're not gonna page it.
SPEAKER_02:Like it's it's like ten times today. I'll talk about our on the same page there. Please, thank you.
SPEAKER_01:We are on the same page, like right now. No, talking about we don't, I don't care what other people think about me. They don't like my scruffy beard, they don't like my redneck t-shirts I wear, they don't like my boots that I stomp around in. I don't give a fine two cent shit. Okay, you don't give a what I wear what I want to wear.
SPEAKER_00:Right now, I dress how I like to dress.
SPEAKER_01:I like to feel comfortable, I like a nice, slack, relaxed pair of jeans. I don't like them butt huggers that these tight short britches wearing people wear.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, it's just uh you bend it over and split vote badways.
SPEAKER_01:I'm not bending over anywhere in front of somebody with tight breeches. Regardless, don't worry about what other people think. Y'all see how she is skirting around this subject.
SPEAKER_03:I don't wear split store now. Listen, so and you don't know this, babe, we're at the grocery store today, okay? And as we're getting ready to check out, this person behind me, who's probably 55, 60 years old, is staring at me like I am like the serial killer coming after, right? Like staring at me hard. And and I see it. I get it. I feel that you're staring at me, right? Obviously, she needs a hug, it's not coming for me. And our beautiful child Faye gave her the best eat shit I've ever seen. It was great. So what else does my daughter do? She walks up beside me and puts her arm around my dog and hugs me. I mean, and that is a big, you know, eat crow kind of comment. You know, I mean, seriously, that's just amazing. See, this is how my husband is like All you gotta do is hit the other thing on the right, babe, and it'll make it smaller. My husband normally is completely and utterly involved in this podcasting event. Right now, he's all about like personalizing a card with our face on it.
SPEAKER_01:It's my new Debit card.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, but right now this is your new podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I've invented, I've said my piece, I've flipped my switch. You need to flip your switch. Don't care about what other people say.
SPEAKER_03:I'm still dead.
SPEAKER_01:Whatever.
SPEAKER_03:Would you please tell people because some people don't know I've lost all hearing in the right time? I have nothing. Not uh there's a so you just told them. Okay, so yes, and you know what? I don't even have one side of my body that is completely correct anymore. Yeah, I I have to do the bread. So Michael on one side.
SPEAKER_01:Why do you want to be with a woman who's scarred up from stip to bottom? Who's broken, who has one arm, no dear head, who has one semi-decent ear. I'm feeling like a van Gell. Who has body dysphoria yesterday? Because no, she has my heart. Bye, Dr.
SPEAKER_03:Same page, always on the same page, all the way on the same page.
SPEAKER_01:Y'all, this is my soulmate, the love of my life. Give me a kiss. And I will be with her forever. And that's our show.
SPEAKER_05:Take a sec.
SPEAKER_01:I love you. I love you most. Good night, y'all. Thanks, Felicita. Contagious smile unstoppable with Victoria and Michael.
SPEAKER_04:And go get our dear silence.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, y'all go pick that up on Amazon.
SPEAKER_03:If you can't find it by the title, because it's a new release, look it up under my name, Victoria Cure, V-I-C-T-O-R-I-A-C-U-O-R.
SPEAKER_01:That sounds like the Beaky Mouse song.
unknown:I tried.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks, guys.
