First Visit to Taft

When you think you've prepared for something, and things don't go according to plan, it really throws you for a loop. That's what happened to me in the past two weeks. When I dropped Ron off at Taft on January 11, I expected to hear from him within 72 hours and that he was settling in. My experience was nothing like that.



It wasn't until Wednesday, January 20, that I found out anything about his whereabouts or his condition. That evening Ron called our son Brian to say he had been, and still was in SHU (Security Housing Unit) ever since his arrival, and he didn't know when he was getting out. In essence, he was in solitary. In a cell by himself for 23 hours a day, one hour out for exercise and crappy meals in the cell. He was never given a legitimate explanation as to why he spent 11 days in SHU. I could go on forever about his experience, but I want to move on to my first visit to the camp, as he was moved there Thursday night and I was cleared to visit this past weekend.



I went there with some anxiety, as I didn't know what to expect. Horrible circumstances can break a man. Would he be bitter, angry, despondent? No, not at all. He came into the room, smiling, so I knew right away he was all right. We visited for five wonderful hours, and I don't think we stopped talking the entire time. He had so much to tell me, it will take several visits and many letters to tell everything. He spent a little time telling me how he passed the 23 hours a day, not knowing when he was getting moved . He sang, recited poems he knew by heart, counted the days, minutes and hours until he would be coming home, read, and slept. He also evaluated what's important in his life, set goals for the future, in short gave himself an emotional tuneup.

The most difficult thing for Ron in those first few days was not being able to tell me where he was. Luckily, after about six days, he was allowed to make a phone call. He called our son Brian to say everything was ok. He arrived at Taft with money, so after a few days he was allowed to buy stamps and finally mail a letter. On one of the days he was out for his one hour of exercise it started to rain, hard. Luckily, a nice man gave him a postage size towel to put over his head. Had he not had that, he would have been soaking wet for 8-10 hours until someone came around to give him dry clothes. What a place!! The hardest part of this whole experience was that Ron does not like surprises, and boy, was he surprised. He had no idea this might happen to him.




Prior to Ron getting a stamp, he was told by the guards to write his letter and that since he was in SHU he didn't need a stamp. He wrote the letter to me, and two days later it came back to him "No postage." No surprise.



Two funny stories about his horrific first 11 days. They took him for a dental check up, standard for all new arrivals. He got a clean bill of health, and the dentist told him to come back in six months for teeth cleaning. They would send him a postcard to remind him. I thought that was hysterical.



For 11 days he ate all his meals alone on a stool in his cell. That is, if you can call it food. Ron said most of it was unedible. However, one morning at 5am they brought him French toast with maple syrup and little sausages. Now remember, it's still dark, and he's pulling off pieces of the French toast and dipping them in the maple syrup and really enjoying it. Unfortunately, since he couldn't see what he was doing, his jumpsuit got caught on something and the maple syrup went flying, all over the floor of the cell. You can only imagine the mess it made, and he's trying to clean it up with the one little towel he has. So much for his best breakfast in 10 days.



These are just a few of the many stories he told me Saturday. Before he went in, Ron did a lot of research and talked to several former inmates, to help him prepare and know what to expect. As he said to me during our visit, you cannot prepare for this because you never know what to expect. Their motto at Taft, and I assume other institutions is, "Hope for the best, but expect the worst." Today was the best.