"CRAF"

HI EVERYBODY! JIMMY JUST CALLED, A LITTLE WHILE AGO!......HE SOUNDED GREAT!...HAPPY AS HE ALWAYS IS!...TRUTHFULLY, HE DIDN'T SOUND LIKE A MAN LOCKED UP ALL DAY.....YES. JIMMY IS LOCKED ALONE IN A VERY SMALL CELL, 24 HOURS/DAY.....HE IS ONLY LET OUT TO SHOWER AND SHAVE......THE CELL IS SMALLER THAN A SMALL BATHROOM....NO TV, NO RADIO, AND NO ROOM MATE......AND THE WORST IS NO READING MATERIAL... I THINK HE HAS 1 SMALL BOOK TO READ..........HE SAYS HE MAINLY LAYS THERE ALL DAY AND NIGHT, AND THINKS OF ME, AND TALKS TO ME..............HE ALSO DOES SOME CRYING...."YES, EVEN BIG , STRONG MEN CRY!"...........

"FRAN, I DON'T CARE ABOUT MYSELF, BUT I WORRY ABOUT YOU."  "AND THE DAY I GOT LOCKED UP, I CRIED , BECAUSE IT WAS SNOWING, AND I KNOW HOW YOU HATE THE COLD AND SNOW, AND HOW I PROMISED YOU TO COME HOME THIS WINTER, ON FURLOUGHS, AND HELP YOU OUT."

AND THEN, HE MADE ME LAUGH...."I HAD JUST GOTTEN INTO THE SHOWER TONITE, ALL LATHERED UP, AND THEY CALLED US BACK TO OUR CELLS, BECAUSE 2 MEN WERE FIGHTING IN ANOTHER BUILDING.  NOW, I AM A BIG MAN, AND IMAGINE ME PUTTING ON THE JUMPSUIT, ALL WET AND LATHERED UP, IN A HURRY. SO, I GOT BACK, AND THEN IT WAS ALL CLEAR, AND I WENT BACK TO SHOWER AGAIN."  ..........MY POOR JIMMY!

JIMMY IS WEARING A GREY JUMP-SUIT, AND GETS 3 MEALS/DAY, WHICH HE SAYS IS SATISFYING.  NO SNACKS ALLOWED...NO LEAVING THE CELL.....

TODAY HE SAW THE "PANEL,' OR "BOARD," WHO REVIEWED HIS CASE.  HE WILL SEE THEM TOMORROW, AGAIN, AND THEY WILL DETERMINE WHAT THE OUTCOME IS, AND WHERE HE WILL GO FROM THERE.........AT THIS TIME, I DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE TALKING ABOUT IT, BUT I WILL LET YOU IN ON THE STORY, LATER ON.........

AND SO, LIFE GOES ON..........THE PRISONER'S WIFE IN THESE SITUATIONS HA MANY THINGS TO DO...........AMONGST THEM, I CALLED TO SUSPEND HIS "WALL STREET JOURNAL," HAD TO GET HIS FRIEND TO PICK UP HIS CLOTHES , ETC., FROM KINTOCK...............AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS, MY ATTORNEY CALLS ME, TO DISCUSS MY SOCIAL SECURITY CASE. WHICH THE COURT APPEARNCE IS IN 3 WEEKS...THE JUDGE IS INSISTING I APPEAR THERE.........THEY JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND , I HAVE NO ONE TO TAKE ME, AND I CAN"T TAKE THE COLD.........AND SO, MUCH TO MY DISBELIEF, MY ATTORNEY WILL STOP HERE AND PICK ME UP!......WELL, JIMMY SAYS, "OF COURSE , FRAN, HE WILL BE MAKING AT LEAST $10,000 ON YOUR CASE...YOU HAVE A BIG SETTLEMENT COMING TO YOU, AS THE CASE GOES BACK 4 YEARS.".......WELL, GOD IS GREAT!.....EVEN IN THE MIDST OF TERRIBLE THINGS HAPPENING, GOOD PREVAILS FOR THE PURE OF HEART!  (that is a saying my former man alsways told me!)

ON THE PHONE. JIMMY REMINDED ME , "WHAT HAPPENED TO 'FRAN'S 24 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS PROJECT?"

I ANSWERED THAT DESPITE ALL THIS TENSION, I HAVE BEEN CONTINUING WITH MY PROJECT....SO HERE GOES...I'LL LET YOU IN ON IT!

day 4.....sunday...I SENT A CHRISTMAS DONATION TO THE SALESION MISSIONS, WHICH I DONATE TO THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

day 5....monday....I SENT A CHRISTMAS DONATION TO "GIRLS AND BOYS TOWN."............I LOVE THAT CHARITY, AS IT HELPS ALL THOSE YOUNG PEOPLE TO MOVE ON IN LIFE.

day 6....tuesday.....I SPONSERED A "DOG", THROUGH OUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER...THE DOG'S PIX WILL APPEAR IN NEXT WEEK'S PAPER, AND IS UP FOR ADOPTION....I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHAT THE DOG'S NAME IS....

day 7....wednesday.....I HAD A  PILLSBURY ROLL OF DOUGH IN THE FRIDGE, I WAS GOING TO BAKE FOR JIMMY'S 3 DAY FURLOUGH THIS WEEKEND....SINCE NOW, HE IS NOT COMING HOME, I BAKED THE BREAD, AND THREW THE PIECED TO THE BIRDS, WHO NEED FOOD AS THW SNOW IS ON IT'S WAY, AGAIN...JIMMY WAS SO HAPPY I DID THIS!

day 8...thursday..........I PRAYED TODAY, FOR THOSE PEOPLE WORKING IN KINTOCK, TO BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM, NOW AND THROUGH THE YEAR........TO FIND PEACE AND JOY IN THEIR LIFE....AND TO THANK THEM FOR BEING SO NICE TO MY HUSBAND WHILE HE WAS THERE.........FOR TAKING CARE OF HIM IN "HIS HOME AWAY FROM HOME," FOR THE PAST 15 MONTHS.  TO HAVE HELPED AND GUIDED JIMMY TO BECOME A BETTER CITIZAN, AND TO OBTAIN A GOOD JOB WHILE THERE.....THANK-YOU SO MUCH.....

GOOD NIGHT, EVERYONE...HAVE A NICE EVENING!...fran