Bethany McDonald sat in her trailer one night earlier this month, a cigarette and cup of coffee in hand, gazing at an order form for Pure Romance products.
Perhaps, the 29-year-old Mount Pleasant resident thought, this form could be her family’s ticket to pay the bills. She makes 35 percent of the profits gained from adult products sold at in-home parties as a consultant for Pure Romance.
But it not might be enough to support herself, her husband, Leroy “Big Lee” McDonald, and their three sons.
“I’ve always wanted to give people hope,” Bethany said, “and tell them that it will be better.”
Pregnant at 14 and married two years later, Bethany had been the child of divorced parents for more than a decade — knowing full well the extent of the challenges thrown her way.
Embracing life as a mother
Motherhood was, in fact, something Bethany strived for so young, telling her father she was “going to get pregnant.”
“I wish you would’ve told me that,” Leroy said with a wry smile in the couple’s home at Lot 105 of the Mount Pleasant Mobile Home Park, 505 S. Bradley Road.
“It actually was my choice to do so,” Bethany said,
In August 1995, Bethany and Leroy, then her boyfriend, were kicked out of her father’s house two days before the birth of their first child, Leroy, or “Little Lee.”
When Little Lee was only eight months old, he was led down the aisle in a wagon as the ring bearer for his parents’ wedding. Because Bethany was 16, the only local church that would wed the two was Immanuel Lutheran Church, 320 S. Bradley Road.
“I can say I did something not many 16 year olds who get married can say — that they’re still together and they’re still in love,” Bethany said. “And we get to grow up with our children. Everything is still new and it’s still a learning experience.”
Bethany and Leroy McDonald now have three sons: Leroy, 15; Daniel, 11; and Dallas, 10.
Past to present
For Bethany, her past fuels her current life.
“My kids are the best thing that’s happened to me,” she said. “The reason we are the parents we are is we both decided we didn’t want to be parents like ours were. My mother was a heroin addict and a prostitute for many years, and I love her still, but when she came back into my life, I was a mother myself.”
The McDonalds’ income was cut in half five months ago. Bethany and Leroy received about $1400 each month as community directors in the mobile home park in November. The couple is now receiving $650 per month, performing the same duties.
Paying the bills is a source of constant stress for Beth, who often foregoes personal pain in lieu of other expenses, she said. In her early 20’s, intense tooth pain led to a medical crossroad: she could choose expensive surgery to fix her teeth, or have them removed. Unable to afford the surgery, she had her teeth removed at age 22.
Bethany has held five to six different jobs between the Dollar General and a local Burger King since 2005. Currently, she is attempting to bring in money in a joint venture with her sister Jenn, now 27. The sisters are Pure Romance party coordinators, and receive 35 percent of profits on product sales made.
“The thing about people around here is we don’t work to get ahead, or to get a break. We work for the purpose of just keeping our heads above water,” Bethany said.
Community role model
Bethany said she and Leroy decided to become community directors for the mobile home park because of a sense of community.
“My husband and I have this idea, even though it sounds ridiculous, that we can, you know, make everything better. We want to fix everybody and everything. And so the idea was, ‘let’s do something nice for the park,’” Bethany said.
“What has the park ever done for us? The park hasn’t done anything for us,” said her son Leroy.
“You’re right the park might not do much for us, but damn it, we live here,” Bethany answered. “And if we can do something to bring people a little bit of hope, as long as we’re part of this place— your father and I, and you boys, better do something to try and make a difference.”
She doesn’t focus just on getting her own children up for school, but also many children from the park. Bethany said she drives some children to school and often picks them up from school too. Some days, if there is no word from their parents and kids do not show up to her home for the car ride to school, she knocks on doors to ensure they get up for class. One time, a friend of her son Leroy was living under her roof until he worked things out with his own mother.
“But that’s what everybody knows me for, is taking in strays,” Bethany said, laughing. “There’s that saying, ‘in 100 years, it won’t matter the kind of clothes you wore, the kind of car you drive, all that will matter is that you made a difference in the life of a child,’ and I have always believed that’s true.”
“Fourteen and pregnant” may not sound like the pathway for a role model, but Bethany McDonald seeks to prove circumstance does not determine character.
“I have always wanted to give people hope, and tell them that it will be better. … I’ve always wanted to tell them that we did it, and if we did it you can do it. And don’t ever let anyone tell you different,” she said. “It will be hard, but if you want it and you work hard enough, you can do anything.”
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