Moving on...

Writing this book was both the hardest and the most liberating thing I've done in a long time. I love to write. I've loved writing since I could write words and make sentences. Writing fiction is like a "getaway vacation" for me. Writing non-fiction, this non-fiction was, many times, like enduring abdominal surgery without anesthetic. Opening up my life, my most inner pain and struggle since that February in 2008, required reliving it, feeling it, over and over. Paul shared with me that he went through this, too, as he wrote his pages and then in all the rewrites and re-reading. Add to that the discovery of so much more in the officer reports, transcripts and watching literally hours of interrogation videos was both gratifying and the stuff of nightmares. You get the picture.

When we were done and the last 'enter' was made to publish both the printed and e-book versions, I felt myself really relax. For the next few weeks, I couldn't get enough sleep! It dawned on me that I hadn't relaxed since we started this project two years ago at least, maybe longer than that. Suddenly, there were days when I didn't think about Paul's kidnapping or its aftermath except in relation to the book. I could talk about it and not cry. For me, that's huge. I'm finally able to step away from those emotions. I'm finally moving on.

"Walking Between The Raindrops" by Mary and Paul Roland is available in print and e-book on Amazon.com. Thank you for buying the book and thank you for your support!

Faces of evil

When a mother has a child - most mothers, I believe - she looks into the face of that child, into their eyes, and all she can see is the work of God in her life, in her arms. She sees hope and promise and perfection. As the child grows, she prays for its safety, health and a good life. She prays that it never wants, is never hurt and that only good things will come in that child's life. It doesn't matter if it's her first child or her tenth (or more). Every new life holds that promise and those prayers in her heart.

Still, we all know that no child grows up free from pain or sickness or temptations. As parents and adults, we didn't make it this far without some heartbreak, various illnesses - some life threatening - or mistakes in judgment. Still, we plan and guide and nurture our children as best we can. We pray to our God for mercy and protection and blessings that our children will grow up to be better people than we are; to have love everlasting and make the world a better place. Thankfully, most children do grow up to be happy, healthy and living good lives their parents are proud of. By the Grace of God, Paul and I have been fortunate with our six children. We pray for them every day, just like other parents do around the world for their children. What we don't pray for is that our childrens' lives turn out like the ones in the pictures below. One newspaper called them the "San Antonio Five". I call them the faces of evil.

"Walking Between The Raindrops" by Mary and Paul Roland on sale now at Amazon.com

"$500,000 by tonight or all you'll need that money for is his funeral." February 27, 2008

That's what the voice on the other end of the phone demanded of my brother-in-law at 6:45AM on Wednesday, February 27, 2008. Paul's been gone just minutes short of 24 hours.Now, we know he's alive. As an added incentive to move quickly, the kidnapper told Tom that Paul was "in a bad way...needs a doctor; maybe a hospital." My stomach lurches at the images of torture and terror that Paul's going through.

Horror turns to panic as the realization hits us that we have less than a day to find HALF A MILLION DOLLARS! Thankfully, a team is growing and assembling in Georgetown, Texas to save the day:

Sergeant Pete Hughey, Detective James Maugham, Texas Ranger Matt Lindemann and First Assistant District Attorney, Jana McKown.

Will they get there in time? Where, on earth, will we ever be able to find that kind of money? Why did this happen?

"Walking Between The Raindrops" by Mary and Paul Roland - An American couple's true story of kidnap-for-ransom in the United States by the most Vicious drug cartel in Mexico - on sale now at Amazon.com.

"No one could have ever invented a story like this. I was especially gratified for their honesty ...", February 22, 2015
By Bridget (Tarentum, PA USA)

"A book of true courage," February 5, 2015
By sharon

"This is a very good book. Follows the victims and suspects from the beginning to the end - seeing the suspect in jail and the victims recovering." February 26, 2015, By Barbara

The worst day of my life - February 26, 2008

7am - Paul kisses me goodbye and leaves. As he shuts the door that connects our apartment to our garage, I step into the shower. It's just another day, same as the last.

10am - My cell phone rings. I think it's Paul but it's someone from his office. He never made it into the office. He didn't call. Somehow, Paul was lost between our apartment and his office just five minutes away.

Noon - Williamson County Sheriff's Office calls me. Opening a missing person report so that Onstar will locate Paul's truck.

2PM - His truck is found but he's not there. His truck is found 20 miles south of where he should have been.

The truck is empty - no wallet, no briefcases, no Paul. All that's left in the truck is his hearing aids; found in the backseat. Hearing aids that tell us, "I was here but someone took me away. Find me."

"Walking Between The Raindrops" by Mary and Paul Roland - An American couple's true story of kidnap-for-ransom in the United States as directed by the most vicious drug cartel in Mexico. On sale at Amazon.com.

Anniversary of Evil

Abduction happened here.


This Thursday, February 26, 2015, marks 7 years since the morning that turned our world upside down and changed, not only the course, but our whole lives forever. It's been said over and over that our lives can change forever in an instant. Most of us, I know I did, smile and nod as if we know what that means. But I truly believe that until it happens to you, we never really understand and, I don't think we really understand "the Grace of God" until we have only survived because of it. At least, I didn't.

I'll be posting several times over the next several days with photos (some never seen here or in the book) some video and excerpts from "Walking Between The Raindrops" to commemorate this infamous anniversary; ending where we are today.

"Walking Between The Raindrops" by Mary and Paul Roland - An American couple's true story of kidnap-for-ransom in the United States as directed by the most vicious drug cartel in Mexico. (Now available worldwide on Amazon.com)

Some reviews -

"Excellent read! This could have happened to anyone." Mark Flickinger
"Incredible true story! Very hard to put the book down." Lance Self
"Incredible story! So well written that I find myself rechecking the locks on all my doors at night. The cooperation of all law enforcement agencies restores my faith in the system. Very impressed with the dedication and capability of Investigative and District Attorney personnel in such a small community." Darlene Miller

Do that which is hard -

http://www.kvue.com/media/cinematic/video/23646863/wife-of-central-texas-man-kidnapped-by-drug-cartel-tells-their-story/

A recent interview on a local news show was a big deal to us even if it isn't to anyone else. I don't like to have my picture taken and I'm much more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. Yet, this had to be done. We stopped talking about the event years ago with the exception of a random mention when either Bobby or Samantha have come up for parole review or if someone asked about how the book was coming along. Not drawing attention to ourselves has become our normal operating procedure.

Once the book was done and out there, I began to think about the inquiries by the media when this all happened back in 2008 and KVUE was the one news station that seemed to actually care about what had happened to Paul not just the sensational bits. So, I picked KVUE as the news station that I would reach out to and, if they were still interested in a story, I would share it with them. We were so pleased and encouraged by their continued sensitivity and coverage. Quita Culpepper and the people at KVUE 24 are what a professional news team should be.

The interview may be good for marketing, but, the big deal, to me, is that we stepped out of the shadows and into the light. We've done that which is hard to continue to take back our lives and know we can keep going.

"Walking Between The Raindrops" on sale in print and Kindle editions at www.amazon.com.

Heroes, one and all...

Lt. Pete Hughey, a sergeant with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office at the time of Paul's kidnapping, was also the commanding officer who assigned Detective Maugham to lead the case and brought in Texas Ranger Matt Lindemann. I didn't meet him until later in Victim Services. I'd heard his name mentioned when Tom and Matt had described their trip to San Antonio to meet the kidnappers and knew he'd been there doing what he could to help Tom get through the ordeal. Like Sheriff Wilson, he worked behind the scenes to do everything he could, pull in every resource available, to rescue Paul and arrest the people responsible.

I've only seen him a couple of times since then but each time he has been gracious and welcoming and supportive. It was with great pleasure that Paul and I were able to see him and present him with a copy of the book recently as a tiny token of our deep gratitude for everything his office has done for us. I love this picture. It captures the joy of the moment and the great affection that we feel for Lt. Hughey and all the people working in the Williamson County Sheriff's Office.

Heroes, one and all.