TUESDAY....

JIMMY WENT TO THE MOTOR VEHICLE'S TODAY, TO GET HIS DRIVER'S LICENSE RENEWED.  HE DID NOT HAVE TO BE DRIVEN, BUT WAS ALLOWED TO WALK THERE, WHICH WAS FINE, AS THE MVA IS ONLY 4 BLOCKS AWAY.  THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE HAS BEEN OTSIDE SINCE THE FIRST WEEK IN DECEMBER 2005,...SINCE BEING LOCKED UP AGAIN...AND THAT WAS 5 MONTHS AGO............HE GOT HIS LICENSE RENEWAL, AND HE SAID IT FELT GOOD TO BE OUTSIDE IN THE FRESH AIR.....

HOWEVER, UPON RETURNING TO LOGAN HALL, JIMMY CALLED ME RIGHT AWAY, A LITTLE SHAKEN UP...WELL, ACTUALLY BY THAT TIME, HE HAD CALMED DOWN A LITTLE.

HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED...AS HE STEPPED OUTSIDE FROM THE MVA, HE HEARD 3 "POPS."....THEN HE SAW A MAN FALL OUT OF A VAN AS IT WAS RIDING BY IN THE STREET.THIS WAS APPARTENLY A DRIVE BY SHOOTING, JUST AS JIMMY LEFT MVA.

THIS IS INCREDIBLE!

I ASKED JIMMY WHAT DID HE DO.....HE SAID HE WAS AT FIRST STUNNED TO BE SEEING THIS, AND THEN AROUND 10 COPS CARS PULLED UP WITHIN A MINUTE OR 2.....

I GUESS I WAS MORE SHAKEN UP THAN JIMMY ABOUT THIS WHOLE THING HAPPENING....

A LOT OF WOMAN HAVE WRITTEN TO ME TO ASK ME HOW IS THE BEIGHBORHOOD WHERE LOGAN HALL IS LOCATED, AS I WENT TO SEE JIMMY A FEW WEEKS AGO.......MY ANSWER IS ALWAYS THE SAME.......I FEEL IT IS IN A VERY BAD LOCATION.  IT IS NEAR THE RAILROAD TRACKS, UNDER THE NJ TURNPIKE, IN AN AREA OF BARREN WAREHOUSES.  THIS IS A PART OF TOWN THAT NICE PEOPLE WOULD NOT WALK AROUND...AND I WONDER JUST WHAT TAKES PLACE IN THOSE STREETS, BEHIND THOSE WAREHOUSE DOORS, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT............SO, I HAVE ALWAYS ASKED JIMMY TO PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL............CALL ME INTUITIVE, OR CALL ME WHAT YOU MAY...BUT I MUST PROTECT MY MAN..............

MY QUESTION IS, WHY DO THEY PUT THESE KIND OF PLACES...HALFWAY BACK HOUSES, IN BAD AREAS OF TOWN.........?

I EXPECT MY HUSBAND TO BE SAFE, ALTHOUGH HE MAY BE A PRISONER....I, AS A WIFE, EXPECT THE PENAL SYSTEM IN OUR COUNTRY, TO PROTECET MY HUSBAND WHEN HE IS AWAY.........

I NEVER FORGET THAT MY HUSBAND TURNED HIMSELF INTO PRISON, OVER 3 YEARS AGO, BECAUSE HE WANTED TO CLEAR THE SLATE....IF WE WANTED, BOTH OF US COULD HAVE BEEN SITTING ON SOME EXOTIC BEACH, IN SOME FARAWAY COUNTRY FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS............AND SO, SINCE WE DID THE RIGHT THING, I EXPECT THAT MY HUSBAND WILL NOT BE HURT, IN ANY WAY, WHILE HE IS AWAY IN PRISON...........

AND SO, AS I ALWAYS SAY, WE LIVE IN A VERY RESIDENTIAL AREA, IN A PARK-LIKE SETTING, WITH ONLY THE SOUND OF THE BIRDS SINGING, IN A TOWN WHICH IS KNOWN FOR ONE OF THE LOWEST CRIME RATES IN NEW JERSY........AND THERE, MY HUSBAND WHO IS ON PAROLE, IS IN AN AREA THAT APPARENTLY IS UNSAFE.........

JIMMY IS LEAVING TO GO TO VOA, BUT I WRITE HIS FOR THE OTHERS THAT ARE STILL THERE, TO MAKE THEIR FAMILIES AWARE.............

AND SO, THAT BRINGS ME TO THE GOOD NEWS....JIMMY WILL BE LEAVING ON THURSDAY, FOR VOA...NOT FRIDAY.  HE TOLD ME TONIGHT HE IS SO EXCITED...AND I AM TOO!....WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ON THE PHONE AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT, THESE PAST FEW DAYS.......

I'LL SAY GOOD-NITE FOR NOW............I HAVE 2 MORE EPISODES OF "BIG LOVE" TO WATCH, AND A LITTLE MORE READING TO DO!

                            FRAN