My Personal Journal

It's the first week in February, and Ron has been home from Taft for 18 months. We don't talk about that period too much anymore, although both of us think of it. Different experiences remind him of that time than me, but it's always going to be in the back of our minds. Another Friday passed, and Ron did not hear from his PO. That means it's been five months since she's called or visited. This is a good thing. Ron is a low priority for her, and in 20 months she'll be out of the picture. We can hardly wait. In the meantime, we had one of our middle of the night talks last week. We woke up at 3am, couldn't get back to sleep, so we talked. I was telling Ron that Linda and Rod's son Corey, will be released from Lompoc in October. They are all very excited, as we are for him, and hope that everything goes well for him when he gets home. Talking about Taft gets Ron thinking about his 19 months there. Which of his friends are still there? Which have been released, and how is everyone doing? Ron said he couldn't believe how long ago it all seemed. Ron's got a great memory, but struggled to remember the names of some of his closest friends there. The mind is so interesting. It blocks out unhappy memories and people, even though you may try to remember. It's a mechanism our body has for dealing with adversity, I guess. Ron's closest friend at Taft was Richard, the CEO of a public company, due to be released in February, 2013. Although Ron has no plans to contact Richard, he can't and would never violate that rule, he hopes he settles back into life in LA and is happy. There will be so many obstacles in Richard's way, as there were in Ron's. The difference is that Richard doesn't have a wife to help him out. He also doesn't have a job, and this is the most challenging task for anyone returning from federal prison. No one wants to give you a second chance. One funny story we reminised about the other night was about the assistant warden. I liked her very much, and she was somewhat helpful in getting Ron released on time. Anyway, after Ron left, she evidently got herself in a bit of trouble. She was out at a bar in Taft and was drinking and carrying on with one or more ex Taft inmates. Apparently the "affair" with one of them had begun while he was in prison. How they managed to do that is beyond me, but they did. Perhaps she called him into her office, so they could have some private time. This is frowned upon. She was immediately removed from her position, and no one seems to know where she went or what happened. My guess is that she was moved to another facility where no one knew her past. These administrators who are in charge of enforcing the law are breaking laws all the time. Sometime I'll tell you about female guards and the carrying on they did with some of the inmates. I don't think it will surprise you. All in all, things are good. Health is most important, and we both work on that everyday. Work and business is not what we want, but we're always trying. Great mom, children and grandchildren, what more could we want?