Thanks for sharing those lovely family memories from your childhood. I remember when I was a kid I did something similar with my gifts before Christmas. I couldn't wait, so I asked my Grandpa if I could peek at my gifts. He laughed and said, "Sure." So I carefully opened them and re-wrapped them. But when Christmas Day actually rolled around it was a bit of a letdown because I knew what I was getting already. I guess the disappointment stuck with me because I didn't do that ever again.
As far as ice cream flavors go, my personal favorite is Tin Roof. But cake is my favorite dessert food of all time. If I could only pick one sweet to enjoy for the rest of my life, cake would be it.
I think I read about the organization that has inmates train puppies for veterans - Puppies Behind Bars, is it? That's good work and while it's too bad the pup was sleeping it's good to hear you guys will be seeing 3 more in a month. We have a 2.5 year old Husky and while he was hell on wheels as a young puppy, now he's the perfect dog. He's so well-behaved and loves everyone. He gets frustrated if other dogs he sees on his walks don't stop to play with him and barks at them.
So sorry to hear about your friend Paul and your Aunt Cindy's friend. Thank you for sharing the news so that more people can hear about them and know who they are. The mother of a friend of mine had cancer a few years ago but now she's in remission. A family member who went through some hard times was diagnosed with cancer on top of everything else last year and went through chemo - now she's in remission, too. Hopefully whatever good vibes and prayers that helped them can help your friend Paul, too. Sending good vibes. Take care.
Hey there, glad you had the opportunity to take some meditation classes! Have you found the practices to be helpful? I'm sorry to hear the other prisoners were inappropriate to the instructor. How rude! Makes you wonder if they will continue classes like that in the future. It sucks they are possibly ruining it for everyone.
Yes, stay peaceful and don't fight. It sounds like you have some blessings to be grateful for in your current dorm with the TV's. How was your shared Xmas meal?
Rob - just had to add my voice that the phone calls are indeed a racket! It is worst in the county jails. We were paying $7.50 for a 15 minute call. Adds up soooo fast. It's better at the prison, about half that, but still cost prohibitive for so many.
Your daughter doesn't understand the gravity of her request to put you in the hole. Send her good energy and love. I will do the same.
Rob - It cut me off on my other reply so thought I would bop over here and make sure I answered all the questions you asked. I see you wrote a lot of posts around Christmas time - very good writing! You do a great job of painting the picture of what it is really like in there. I'm sorry that's your reality.
I am glad you enjoyed the printouts, and that you hadn't received them before. I tried to look up the family members you mentioned and didn't have any luck. There are a couple more sites I can try, which I will do later. I want to get this finished before the deadline. They say they will mail the responses to you tomorrow.
You asked if my friend T. has kids, yes she does. Two girls, age 9 and 15. It is such a sad situation for all of them. She got to speak to them at Xmas for the first time in a year. Their dad is not keen on them having contact. She also colored some beautiful pictures for them, and I put them in frames and wrapped them up for the girls for Xmas. I found the dad did let them have them. T's mom - their grandma - sent me a pic of them holding the framed coloring pages. Heartbreaking.
Your Christmas posts with the memories were really good. Keep that kind of stuff alive in your heart and mind. You asked what our favorite gifts were. Have you heard of the Amazon Echo - otherwise known as Alexa? It is a little hockey puck shaped thing that you can talk to. It accesses the internet and can answer questions, play music, order things for you, all sorts of things. The voice that talks back is named Alexa (it's a female voice). Well, I got one and I love this thing! It is so useful.
I read what you wrote about the puppy dogs. I'm a huge dog lover too. We have two big dogs - Red and Daisy. Red is a registered therapy dog and I take him to an adult day care center to visit the guests there. Dogs are so special and I'm a big fan of the prison dog training programs! Get yourself some puppy love anytime you can - it's magical!
Better close for now, I can see I am running out of space again.
Hi Robert, I received your first reply a few days ago, and this one to my short comment today. I was waiting for the weekend to write back because that's when I have time to do all my stuff - I'm often worn out during the week after work. Such is life!
Anyway, thank you so much for the many ideas to help my friend (T.). Don't worry, I won't abandon her. We have been friends since we were 10 years old and are in our mid-forties now. I am the only friend she has that is keeping in touch. She does have her parents, but they are elderly and not in good health. I read a message board called "Prison Talk" for loved ones of inmates, so I do know how much the contact from the outside means to those in there. It just breaks my heart to think of all the people in there suffering. I think every one of us have done stupid things, that if things had been slightly different, could have landed us in prison, or at least on the road to it. I can think of a few instances in my life that I made poor decisions, and had things been a little different I could have been in a completely different place than I am now. And I do think people change and it sucks that there isn't any way for these people (and those who just made a stupid mistake) to have a second chance.
Your comment about pictures was enlightening. I do try to send her pics of her kids that are posted on Facebook and I know she loves getting them. I didn't know the pictures of the mundane things would be appreciated, so will try to do more of that. Thanks for the ideas of other services to try. So far I've uploaded pics to Walgreens and have them sent directly. You seem to know a lot about outside services, Google Play, and such. Good for you for keeping up with the times! I know it's difficult in there with the lack of info.
I have floated the idea of the penpal sites to her (in a letter, since phone time is limited) and am curious to hear if she would like that. I haven't heard back yet. I put her in a swap on Prison Talk for her birthday, I think she was a little bit puzzled by what was going on. The idea of having some male contact may appeal to her.
Sorry to hear about your shoulder and the crappy medical care. I know that is a major problem in there. I fear for T. as she has a chronic condition that is likely to shorten her life anyway, but will do so even more with the lack of care in prison. Have you looked into any yoga or stretching moves? Or do you think it's beyond that?
Lockdown is also a huge bummer, and it must be frustrating to not know why. T. will be in quarantine for 9 months which means she is in lockdown 23 hours a day. Do you get out that one hour per day to go outside or not at all during lockdown?
I read another post of yours about the problems with your daughter. I'm sorry to hear that as well. She is young and stupid (as we all were once) but I know the betrayal must really hurt. Try to hold her in love and not get too angry about it.
RSS
As far as ice cream flavors go, my personal favorite is Tin Roof. But cake is my favorite dessert food of all time. If I could only pick one sweet to enjoy for the rest of my life, cake would be it.
I think I read about the organization that has inmates train puppies for veterans - Puppies Behind Bars, is it? That's good work and while it's too bad the pup was sleeping it's good to hear you guys will be seeing 3 more in a month. We have a 2.5 year old Husky and while he was hell on wheels as a young puppy, now he's the perfect dog. He's so well-behaved and loves everyone. He gets frustrated if other dogs he sees on his walks don't stop to play with him and barks at them.
So sorry to hear about your friend Paul and your Aunt Cindy's friend. Thank you for sharing the news so that more people can hear about them and know who they are. The mother of a friend of mine had cancer a few years ago but now she's in remission. A family member who went through some hard times was diagnosed with cancer on top of everything else last year and went through chemo - now she's in remission, too. Hopefully whatever good vibes and prayers that helped them can help your friend Paul, too. Sending good vibes. Take care.
Yes, stay peaceful and don't fight. It sounds like you have some blessings to be grateful for in your current dorm with the TV's. How was your shared Xmas meal?
Hang in there -
j.c.
Your daughter doesn't understand the gravity of her request to put you in the hole. Send her good energy and love. I will do the same.
Hang in there,
j.c.
Rob -
It cut me off on my other reply so thought I would bop over here and make sure I answered all the questions you asked. I see you wrote a lot of posts around Christmas time - very good writing! You do a great job of painting the picture of what it is really like in there. I'm sorry that's your reality.
I am glad you enjoyed the printouts, and that you hadn't received them before. I tried to look up the family members you mentioned and didn't have any luck. There are a couple more sites I can try, which I will do later. I want to get this finished before the deadline. They say they will mail the responses to you tomorrow.
You asked if my friend T. has kids, yes she does. Two girls, age 9 and 15. It is such a sad situation for all of them. She got to speak to them at Xmas for the first time in a year. Their dad is not keen on them having contact. She also colored some beautiful pictures for them, and I put them in frames and wrapped them up for the girls for Xmas. I found the dad did let them have them. T's mom - their grandma - sent me a pic of them holding the framed coloring pages. Heartbreaking.
Your Christmas posts with the memories were really good. Keep that kind of stuff alive in your heart and mind. You asked what our favorite gifts were. Have you heard of the Amazon Echo - otherwise known as Alexa? It is a little hockey puck shaped thing that you can talk to. It accesses the internet and can answer questions, play music, order things for you, all sorts of things. The voice that talks back is named Alexa (it's a female voice). Well, I got one and I love this thing! It is so useful.
I read what you wrote about the puppy dogs. I'm a huge dog lover too. We have two big dogs - Red and Daisy. Red is a registered therapy dog and I take him to an adult day care center to visit the guests there. Dogs are so special and I'm a big fan of the prison dog training programs! Get yourself some puppy love anytime you can - it's magical!
Better close for now, I can see I am running out of space again.
Peace - j.c.
Hi Robert,
I received your first reply a few days ago, and this one to my short comment today. I was waiting for the weekend to write back because that's when I have time to do all my stuff - I'm often worn out during the week after work. Such is life!
Anyway, thank you so much for the many ideas to help my friend (T.). Don't worry, I won't abandon her. We have been friends since we were 10 years old and are in our mid-forties now. I am the only friend she has that is keeping in touch. She does have her parents, but they are elderly and not in good health. I read a message board called "Prison Talk" for loved ones of inmates, so I do know how much the contact from the outside means to those in there. It just breaks my heart to think of all the people in there suffering. I think every one of us have done stupid things, that if things had been slightly different, could have landed us in prison, or at least on the road to it. I can think of a few instances in my life that I made poor decisions, and had things been a little different I could have been in a completely different place than I am now. And I do think people change and it sucks that there isn't any way for these people (and those who just made a stupid mistake) to have a second chance.
Your comment about pictures was enlightening. I do try to send her pics of her kids that are posted on Facebook and I know she loves getting them. I didn't know the pictures of the mundane things would be appreciated, so will try to do more of that. Thanks for the ideas of other services to try. So far I've uploaded pics to Walgreens and have them sent directly. You seem to know a lot about outside services, Google Play, and such. Good for you for keeping up with the times! I know it's difficult in there with the lack of info.
I have floated the idea of the penpal sites to her (in a letter, since phone time is limited) and am curious to hear if she would like that. I haven't heard back yet. I put her in a swap on Prison Talk for her birthday, I think she was a little bit puzzled by what was going on. The idea of having some male contact may appeal to her.
Sorry to hear about your shoulder and the crappy medical care. I know that is a major problem in there. I fear for T. as she has a chronic condition that is likely to shorten her life anyway, but will do so even more with the lack of care in prison. Have you looked into any yoga or stretching moves? Or do you think it's beyond that?
Lockdown is also a huge bummer, and it must be frustrating to not know why. T. will be in quarantine for 9 months which means she is in lockdown 23 hours a day. Do you get out that one hour per day to go outside or not at all during lockdown?
I read another post of yours about the problems with your daughter. I'm sorry to hear that as well. She is young and stupid (as we all were once) but I know the betrayal must really hurt. Try to hold her in love and not get too angry about it.
j.c.