This morning, I was in an area of the facility which has classrooms and offices for the inmates who are in the Sensorial Disabled Unit...
These are the men who are sight-impaired. And there's also another classroom in the same area for the men from the prison's general population, who, while not legally blind, are learning sign language.
And it was in the empty sign language class that I parked myself because at the time it was not being used. I needed to stay here for several hours because the blind prisoner I was escorting had to attend his class in the room next door. So, I had to be near him and on standby duty in case he needed my assistance with something.
Then, after I had been sitting by myself in the empty classroom catching up on my reading, a man by the name of Rodney* entered in. Rodney once was an active member of an infamous and very dangerous street gang. Fortunately, however, a handful of years ago he slowly began to detach himself from the gang.
Well, Rodney sat down next to me and began to talk. He was happy, he said, because he recently received a letter from his sixteen-year-old daughter, whom he hadn't heard from in fourteen years.
Rodney explained that she was only a little baby when he came to prison. And as a result of his lengthy sentence - Rodney has at least fifty years to do - his wife divorced him and took his daughter and disappeared. For all these years, he said, Rodney had no idea where his ex-wife and daughter lived. He had lost contact with them.
Anyhow, according to Rodney, his parents happen to be Christians who had been praying for something like this to happen. As it turned out, Rodney explained, one day his daughter, who had been curious about her father for many years, decided to search for him on the Internet. Then, when she found out he was here, she got the address of the prison and wrote. Rodney nearly fainted, he said, when he saw the name on the return address of her first letter.
And when his ex-wife found out that her daughter tracked down her father, she too decided to write. Now they're all back in touch, and they've made their peace. But Rodney said they won't be getting married again, however.
Listening to Rodney tell it brought tears to my eyes. I'm happy for him. Yet his story reminded me that I had lost contact with my half-sister more than twenty-seven years ago. I have no idea where she is, and I miss her very much.
I told Rodney that I needed to hear his story because, unbeknownst to him, I've been going through a difficult time of grief and anguish because I have been betrayed by several persons whom I thought were close friends. Thankfully, though, today my spirit was lifted as I listened to Rodney's tale of hope.
D.B.
*Rodney is not his real name.
And it was in the empty sign language class that I parked myself because at the time it was not being used. I needed to stay here for several hours because the blind prisoner I was escorting had to attend his class in the room next door. So, I had to be near him and on standby duty in case he needed my assistance with something.
Then, after I had been sitting by myself in the empty classroom catching up on my reading, a man by the name of Rodney* entered in. Rodney once was an active member of an infamous and very dangerous street gang. Fortunately, however, a handful of years ago he slowly began to detach himself from the gang.
Well, Rodney sat down next to me and began to talk. He was happy, he said, because he recently received a letter from his sixteen-year-old daughter, whom he hadn't heard from in fourteen years.
Rodney explained that she was only a little baby when he came to prison. And as a result of his lengthy sentence - Rodney has at least fifty years to do - his wife divorced him and took his daughter and disappeared. For all these years, he said, Rodney had no idea where his ex-wife and daughter lived. He had lost contact with them.
Anyhow, according to Rodney, his parents happen to be Christians who had been praying for something like this to happen. As it turned out, Rodney explained, one day his daughter, who had been curious about her father for many years, decided to search for him on the Internet. Then, when she found out he was here, she got the address of the prison and wrote. Rodney nearly fainted, he said, when he saw the name on the return address of her first letter.
And when his ex-wife found out that her daughter tracked down her father, she too decided to write. Now they're all back in touch, and they've made their peace. But Rodney said they won't be getting married again, however.
Listening to Rodney tell it brought tears to my eyes. I'm happy for him. Yet his story reminded me that I had lost contact with my half-sister more than twenty-seven years ago. I have no idea where she is, and I miss her very much.
I told Rodney that I needed to hear his story because, unbeknownst to him, I've been going through a difficult time of grief and anguish because I have been betrayed by several persons whom I thought were close friends. Thankfully, though, today my spirit was lifted as I listened to Rodney's tale of hope.
D.B.
*Rodney is not his real name.
