Fifty Fourth Visit to Taft

Brian and David came to visit Ron at Taft last Friday. It's always a great day when the four of us are together. It's not much different than it used to be around the dining room table. Lots of talking, arguing, joke telling and laughing. We were missing Phil. That would have made it just like home.

I noticed a change in Ron today. He was just like his old self, before all this mess began. He was talking to his kids about business, future projects, advising them on how to do certain things. He hasn't really done this in a long time, maybe because he felt that he was not one to give advise, considering his situation. But he is so optimistic about his future, the things he plans to get involved in, and I haven't seen him like this since way before he came to Taft. He has his confidence back. Yeah!

An article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal had Taft, and I assume all federal camps, abuzz. Obama's new budget will have prisons as an area they intend to cut. What they want to do is increase the amount of good time allotted to federal inmates. Instead of 15% good time it will be increased substantially. What does that mean to me? A lot. It means that if that budget passes, and if they actually act on what they propose to cut in a timely fashion, Ron could be coming home early. Is this just another opportunity to be disappointed? Maybe. I am sure that this will happen, but whether or not it will happen in time to make a difference to Ron is unknown at this time. It does make a huge difference to some of Ron's friends who were given very long sentences as first time offenders of a nonviolent crime. The savings will be tremendous, as each prisoner costs the U.S. taxpayers close to $50,000 a year. With the aging prison population, sometimes the cost is much higher.

We talked alot about the possibility of this actually happening. I'm afraid to get excited about it just because I know how slowly bureaucracy moves and even if this passes, it could be many months before implementation. Ron is excited but doesn't show it. As he says, no matter what happens, he'll be home in 5 months.

We spent about an hour talking about what we each think regarding Ron coming home, and what we think about doing together. My thoughts are rather romantic, like taking a nice walk and then having lunch together. Ron's are, well I don't know what you'd call his thoughts. He's thinking about mornings when I get up early and go to the gym, he sleeps in and awaits my return, then I fix breakfast for us both. Why are men and women so different?

The BOP is in no hurry to release prisoners. Jobs will be lost, prisons may close, and lots of work will have to be done by current employees in preparation for prisoner release. The BOP doesn't want any of these things to happen, so I don't see this happening in a hurry. It would be nice if it would, but I have to be optimistic and go on past performance. Wait, wait, wait.

We are both in a good place emotionally right now, counting down the weeks, preparing to be together again. If the budget cuts take place, it will be a sweet surprise for us both. As I've said many times before, "Hope for the best but expect the worst."