Quick update (#15)

My brother decided to give me a break from the blog entries for a little while, and so I haven't had anything to write for a couple of weeks. I did receive an update on the blog about four days ago, but have not been able to post. I just wanted to send this little update from a couple of letters that I received.

First, Jeff has had trouble sleeping since his arrival. As you may have read, Jeff is housed in a cubicle, but it is not closed, in a large warehouse type structure. Noise carries and people are up at all hours in the bunks. Jeff can hear everything. Recently, however, he was able to move to a two-man cube instead of the three-man cube that he was in. He said it is toward the back, so there is a lot less noise and he is finally able to get some more sleep. Also, he has more room to write and study, so that is also nice. His bunk mate is a guy he lived with when he first arrived, so he already knew the guy. He does miss his old bunk mates, but he still stops by for visits and to help cook and eat the now famous tacos that I wrote about in a previous post.

In addition, before Jeff left for camp, I had done some research on the Internet about prison camp life, and what to expect. There is very little information, by the way, but one thing I did find was a web site called www.michaelsantos.net . I encourage you to visit this site just to see what a guy who has been through all the levels of prison security has to say about the experience. Michael earned a bachelors and masters degree while incarcerated, and has written several books (his latest, Inside, is a fantastic read). Anyway, I told Jeff about this site and he read many of the posts. Michael's time in prison was sort of the basis for how Jeff wanted to structure his time, with a goal-oriented focus on developing spiritually, intellectually, and physically. It turns out the Michael was sent to Taft in late June. Jeff had a chance to meet Michael and he said he was a nice guy and easy to talk to. This is significant in that there are few people in prison who are genuine, and not trying to manipulate or scam someone. Michael is a guy who is not trying to do that, but grow as a person. Jeff felt like God placed Michael at Taft for a reason. Perhaps just for encouragement, or for a friend, or what, Jeff isn't sure, but it was just nice to feel like he knew this guy from before he entered prison and that Michael was a person that Jeff could trust.

I will try and post Jeff's blog in the next few days. He is still playing soccer and his team is in the playoffs.

Scott