JIMMY WON'T BE COMING HOME TODAY. THE REASON IS, THAT AFTER HE FINISHES WORKING AT THE FOODSTORE, IT WILL BE AROUND 2 OR 3 PM, AND IT WILL TAKE HIM AT LEAST 5 OR MORE HOURS TO GET HERE BY BUS...THE POLICY OF KINTOCK IS THAT THE PERSON SHOULD ARRIVE HOME BEFORE IT GETS DARK...AND IT GETS DARK EARLY NOW....WELL, THAT IS A VERY GOOD POLICY, BECAUSE IT PROTECTS THE PUBLIC FROM CRIMINALS WHO WOULD OTHERWISE BE TRAVELING AROUND AT NIGHT............WOULD YOU WANT TO SIT NEXT TO A CRIMINAL ON A BUS AT NIGHT?.......I DON'T THINK MOST PEOPLE WOULD. WELL, NEXT TIME YOU RIDE A BUS, JUST THINK WHO MAY BE A CRIMINAL THAT IS RIDING WITH YOU ON THAT BUS, OR EVEN NEXT TO YOU....I BET YOU NEVER , EVER, EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT IT.........
SO, I GOT UP EARLY TODAY, MOPPED ALL THE FLOORS, AND VACUUMED THE HOUSE. I MADE SURE EVERYTHING WAS READY FOR JIMMY, BUT HE CALLED ME AROUND 11 AM AND SAID HE COULDN'T MAKE IT HERE ON TIME, BEFORE NIGHT-FALL, THAT IS.....SO HE SAYS, HE'LL COME HOME TOMORROW....BUT I'M NOT HOLDING MY BREATH............
IT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS JOURNAL NOT ONLY TO BE INTERESTING AND ENTERTAINING, AND A PURGING OF MY SOUL AND THOUGHTS , BUT TO BE EDUCATIONAL TO THE PUBLIC , AS WELL......MANY OF MY FRIENDS I MADE THROUGH THIS JOURNAL ARE MARRIED WOMAN, WHO I SUPPOSE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT GOES ON "BEHIND THE SCENES," OF SOMEONE WHOSE HUSBAND IS IN PRISON. MANY ARE WOMAN WHO IDENTIFY WITH ME, AS THEY HAVE HUSBANDS, AND MEN IN PRISON....SOME ARE MOTHERS, OR SISTERS OF PRISONERS. MANY WRITE AND TELL ME THEY READ THIS JOURNAL ON A RGEGULAR BASIS....MANY ARE THE "QUIET" WOMEN, WITH MEN IN PRISON, WHO ARE AFRAID TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT IN PUBLIC. SO, I THANK YOU FOR STOPPING HERE TO READ WHAT I HAVE TO SAY....
AND NOW, I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS ANY PRISONER READING THIS, OR ANY MAN OR WOMAN WHO IS CONTEMPLATING COMMITTING A CRIME IN THE FUTURE.
IF YOU THINK LIFE IS A "BOWL OF CHERRIES,' AFTER YOU COMMIT A CRIME AND GO TO PRISON, YOU HAD BETTER THINK TWICE....JUST READ MY JOURNAL AND SEE WHAT IT IS LIKE....WHEN YOU DRAG YOURSELF, AND LOVED ONES THROUGH THE GRUELING PROCESS OF BEING IN PRISON....READ MY JOURNAL AND SEE WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE TWISTED AND TURNED, AND BROUGHT THROUGH THE 'PRISON JOURNEY."....NICE, ISN'T IT?..........IT IS ALMOST LIKE BEING A VEGETABLE....YES, A VEGTABLE WITH A BRAIN...BECAUSE YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES ARE HELPLESS, AND ONLY MADE TO SUFFER.....SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE...GROW UP.......YOU MAY BE ONLY 19 OR 20 COMMITTING THESE CRIMES, BUT SOON YOU WILL BE 50, OR 60...LIFE GOES FASTER , THE OLDER YOU GET...AND SOON YOU WILL LOOK BACK AND REGRET WHAT YOU'VE DONE...NOT ONLY TO YOURSELF, BUT TO OTHERS THAT LOVE YOU, AND OF COURSE TO THE PUBLIC......
......YOU WILL REGRET COMMITTING THAT CRIME, SOONER OR LATER..............THAT IS ONE REASON I WRITE THIS JOURNAL...SO YOU CAN SEE JUST WHAT IT IS LIKE FOR THE PERSON AT HOME THAT WAITS...............
IF I HAVE HELPED AND PREVENTED JUST ONE PERSON FROM COMMITTING A CRIME, THEN IT IS WELL WORTH MY TIME AND EFFORT WRITING THIS JOURNAL.............
3 comments:
One of the reasons that I love your journal so much is that I get to really understand what the loved ones who are left behind go thru...I don't think many of us think of that...you just think ok someone did something wrong and they are in prison, end of story...but there is a whole other aspect to this...and that is the wives and children who are left waiting...and left in a world of uncertainty....I have always appreciated how you open up your world to us so that we can better understand what you go thru....and you are always in my prayers Fran...and I will be the first to celebrate in JLand when Jimmy finally comes home for good.
Sorry Jimmy won't be coming home. I sometimes think that the law puts more people away that don't deserve it than not and many people that commit no crime at all are thrown into prison. Above all our justice system needs to be corrected and some legalization/decriminalization needs to occur in order to make it work.
I liked how you addressed the comments to the people perhaps contemplating a crime what it can do to not only them, but to their families for the rest of their lives. I wish there was some ministry or program that gave family members who had loved ones in prison an opportunity to go to the schools to talk with kids about what it is like to be left behind when a loved one is in prison. I think that would also open up some kids' minds to maybe avoid doing a crime.
I'm sorry you won't have your visit with Jimmy as planned.
Frankly, to me I would be okay sitting next to a criminal on a bus.
Like I wrote in my journal the other day about a place I do volunteer work for, Dress for Success, some of our clients are women from a pre-release type program. They are some of the best clients we get in because they genuinely want to improve and make something of their lives now. They are also very polite and show up for their appts whereas others sometimes don't. It would be my honor to sit next to someone who had served their time and is wanting to rejoin society and trying their best to pick up the pieces.
betty
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