Editor’s note: This is the final part of a series on Lacy Petrekovich and Jayson Passmore’s journey to recovery from drug addition.
April 2021
VAN BUREN — The box of cupcakes on the table had finally been opened.
You could tell not only by sight, but by smell. A rich, decadent, aroma of chocolate and vanilla that makes your blood sugar shoot up just by inhaling and 6-year-old Mason Passmore was still on the case.
She knew where the cupcakes were and that the box was finally open. But her parents, 37-year-old Lacy Petrekovich and 47-year-old Jayson Passmore of Ellsinore, were still getting congratulated for their successes, and not one person had touched any of the cupcakes yet.
Mason could wait, but for how much longer?
A chance for change
Spring 2020
Serving time in Wayne County, Lacy kept getting called in front of Carter County Associate Judge Steven Lynxwiler, who was adjudicating the case against her and Jayson. They had been arrested during a court appearance for possession of a controlled substance and later for stolen property and forgery, after a warrant was served at their home.
An idea was brewing in the judge’s head. He had examined her case and saw something there that spoke to him. He wanted Lacy to be the first participant in the newly formed Carter County Drug Court.
“And I’ll never forget when Lacy’s mom, Liz, came up to me and said, ‘I just don’t think it will work. It’s too little, too late,’” Lynxwiler recalled. “She applauded us for giving Lacy a chance, but any addict will tell you that they take, and take, and take, until there’s nothing else to take. And that’s what had happened in Lacy’s life.”
Lacy was initially unsure herself if this was a good decision or not.
“At this point, I had an inclination to at least look at the bigger picture that what I had done up to this point hadn’t worked,” she said. “I don’t know that I was fully enlightened yet. I was just going to go through the motions at this point. This is what they want me to do, I’m just going to do it.”
Lacy would come to realize what made drug court work was the mental and behavioral treatment that was required. She had to realize what her issues were, handle those and address those with others.
Lacy recalled a breakthrough moment when she realized she needed to be more open and share her issues with others in treatment. A woman approximately Lacy’s age shared a frank, brutal, personal story, one involving her children, her drug use and her relationships. Her honesty and openness struck a chord.
“Most of the people in the room had no idea that I even had children,” Lacy said. “That’s how little I shared and talked about during group. But if that woman could share that story and learn how to deal with that amount of trauma and emotion, I thought that was one of the bravest things I had ever seen and I wanted to be like that.”
The requirements of drug court are very strict and Lacy and Jayson had bad days to be sure. Yet, the successes began to outweigh the failures through community support and the advice and assistance of Lynxwiler and Carter County Clerk of the Courts Mary Godsy.
Reuniting a broken family
There was still one issue that needed to be addressed. Lacy had not heard from her mother or daughter, Mason. Lacy’s mom, Liz Reynolds, had arranged to get formal guardianship of the kids when the couple was arrested. Lacy had one son, Brennan, and the couple has a daughter, Mason. Brennan was sent to Arizona to live with his father while Mason lived with her grandmother.
It was time to repair those relationships. It all started with text messages sent to Liz. The couple made it clear they were changing for the better and working hard on sobriety. Liz’s reply was simple and direct, “Prove it”
Lacy and Jayson sent texts every day. Texts like, “still sober today, love you.”
There was no response for a while, but Liz later agreed to meet Lacy at Pineywoods, where mother and daughter spoke face-to-face for the first time in months.
After meetings with Lacy, and more meetings with Lacy and Jayson, Liz finally decided Mason would be allowed to see her parents.
The location was once again Pineywoods.
It was an emotional reunion.
“She gets out of the car, she sees us and gets this really confused look in her eyes not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and when she got to us, she hugged us and said, ‘I waited so long for you,’” Lacy said.
“I waited so long for you.” Six little words. Words that meant so much to mother and father.
It gave them even more strength to continue down the path they were on.
Hard work and reward
At first the visits with Mason were supervised and for a set time. As they progressed through the program, the visits got longer and longer, then became unsupervised. Mason was able to eventually stay the night with her parents.
Which led to another in a long list of emotional days prior to Lacy’s graduation.
Her mother, seeing the changes in the couple, realized it was time for Mason to return home. Lacy and Jayson had indeed “proved it.”
She wrote a letter to the judge expressing her belief the family should be reunited.
It was a memory Lynxwiler shared April 8, when he spoke at Lacy’s graduation.
“My proudest moment as a judge was the day that Liz and Lacy and Jayson were able to stand before me. While Mason was back with Lacy and Jayson quite a bit, we were able to terminate the formal guardianship process and Mason was able to go back home full-time,” added Lynxwiler, who is serving in his third year as associate judge. “That was the most incredible feeling I’ve ever had in this job.”
More successes followed.
One of Lacy’s community service duties involved building the very bench that Jayson and Lacey stood in front of on graduation day.
By this time, Lynxwiler’s trust in Lacey and Jayson was complete. When he discovered they needed items from the hardware store to finish building the bench, Lynxwiler casually gave Lacey the keys to his truck and a credit card. He trusted her to buy what was needed.
Lacey’s face lights up when she thinks about this simple gesture that at one time might have had a totally different outcome. Lacey knows it was another lesson from Judge Lynxwiler, a reminder that good things come from hard work. A reminder that the two of them weren’t the same people that started on the journey so many months ago.
New life, new business, new successes
April 2021
Lynxwiler sums it up like this.
“If they don’t buy into the program, it’s not going to work. Lacey and Jason had reluctance right off the bat and just like I had reluctance about how successful they would be,” he said. “But they were very quick to prove me wrong and I think we, as a team, were very quick to prove them wrong.
“We were very serious about all of this and held them accountable.
“They are the ones that went to the treatments. They are the ones that had to deal with their addictions, and they’re the ones that have graduated from this program. They’re the successful ones. We’ve just helped hold some hands. That’s all we’ve done.”
And so much more has happened in the past year.
Lacy went back to school at Three Rivers College, where she’s on the dean’s list and taking business classes.
A golden opportunity presented itself and Lacy and Jayson opened a new business, Vision Stone Works in Ellsinore.
Lacy designs custom stone and Jayson, with his background as a bricklayer and decades of experience, serves as masonry specialist.
Mason is back home. Brennan spends roughly half the year with his father in Arizona, and the other half with Lacy and Jayson. He’s due to arrive back in Carter County soon.
Helping others navigate recovery
The couple also plans to participate in after care and serve as alumni in the drug court. They’ll help others navigate the path they just so recently traveled, coming out clean on the other side.
Jayson was the first person to graduate from the Ripley County Drug Court program back in January of this year. Lacy was participant one and Jayson was number four.
They are excited and motivated, but quick to acknowledge the lessons learned in drug court.
“Every day we have moments where we go, ‘oh my god, did these good things just happen?’” she said. “It happens so much that it makes me wonder if it had been happening all along, but I was just too sick to notice, appreciate, or take advantage of it.
“Maybe it’s because we are putting a lot of energy into our family, our community, and ourselves. Maybe that’s a big part of it, but it’s not only the big things. The little things are what make me want to be better every day (too).”
Jayson shares her sentiment.
“I can sit here and look at my heart and know that I am on the better end of staying off drugs because of where my heart is at,” he said. “I know that every day when I get up, I don’t want to get high because I am so in love with my life.
“I’m so in love with Lacey, with kissing my kid, getting her off to school every morning. Those things are my drug right now.”
Happy tears and a courageous battle
The last thing you see before everyone heads home after Lacy’s graduation, is Jayson and a group of family and friends surrounding Lacy, celebrating her hard-won and well-earned achievement. Smile’s beam, laughter resonates off the walls, and hugs and handshakes are passed out with joyous abandon.
In the center of it all is Lacy, smiling and laughing more and louder than everyone else.
Tears have been shed but they are the happy kind. They’re the kind of tears you shed when so much love has been bestowed upon you and you have won a courageous battle against a sinister foe.
She is in a wonderful new place in her life, a place of nothing but opportunities and happiness.
There will be hard times perhaps, but with the continued support of those that love her, her community, and the tools she now has to cope with her addiction, you just know she can make it. With Jayson by her side, the sky’s the limit.
Lacy’s hand rests on the shoulder of a 6-year-old who is smiling as well. The girl’s smile is perfect, if not a wee bit messy as white icing and chocolate adorn the corners of her mouth and upper lip. You see, Mason finally got her cupcakes.