I’ve been writing about some tips and rules that I have learned that have helped me get through my prison sentence. I will still write about those things, but every 3 months, I want to update the recent events about my time here. Jan. 13th, was the end of my 3rd quarter here at Taft. I’ve completed 9 months of my 3 year sentence. (10 months now, I posted this a bit late. - Scott)
The past three months were what I will call “holiday time.” It’s the toughest time of the year for most of the guys. The first holiday in the past three months was (of the third quarter) was Halloween. Since I have two young boys, Halloween is becoming a bigger event in my life than it had previously been in my household. My kids get excited about their costumes and getting candy. I spent a lot of time drawing pictures of haunted houses, jack-o-lanterns, etc, and I even wrote a little story for them about a witch who ran out of spells. It’s fun for me to be able to participate in these events in their lives, even though I’m not present physically.
At Taft, Halloween night was sort of a non-event. I think the weekend before Halloween, we had a few scary movies, but they cannot be rated R, so they probably weren’t that bad. I didn’t watch any of them, so I don’t know.
Thanksgiving was the next holiday, and there was much more ballyhoo surrounding that at the camp. There were no sports leagues going during that time, but the camp put on several special sports competitions. We had a big inter dorm soccer game. My dorm challenged another dorm and it was a very popular event. Over the weekend there was also a flag football game, and even a softball game (it was the Fall after all – and not baseball season). We also had a special Thanksgiving meal as well. It was not too bad. We had turkey with stuffing, corn on the cob, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Oddly, they did not serve mashed potatoes. WE did have green beans and a salad as well, but we have that frequently.
The weather also started to cool down around Thanksgiving and we had some pretty cold days in December. I was thankful for that. I don’t care for the hot weather, and I know it is coming soon. In December we started to get into the Christmas spirit. Christmas is really the only time that the staff here allows the prisoners to do any sort of celebrating. They actually encouraged us to decorate and had a contest for the best decorations and Christmas card. We also had caroling, talent shows, and other festivities. I think I would have enjoyed this normally, but there are too many inmates who complain about everything and sort of make is a chore rather than something that we don’t usually get to do. I helped decorate our dorm, but we had too many supervisors and not enough decorators. When no one can agree on where a decoration should go, it sort of defeats the spirit of the season. I got frustrated. So, after a few hours, I gave up. I tried the Christmas card contest, but I didn’t win. But, it was fun to make cards for my family.
The highlight for most of the inmates is the “Christmas bag” that the guards give the inmates. This was kind of highly anticipated, and so I was getting a bit anxious myself. Essentially, the Christmas bag was a bunch of sample size snacks and treats. The kind of size you would get at Halloween or on an airplane, with similar type snacks. Some candy bars, pretzels, cookies, chips, etc. On the black market, these were going for $6, which is pretty cheap compared to prior years where guys said that they could fetch $20 pretty regularly. I don’t want to complain, and this was my first bag, so for me, it was fun to get something. We also got a special Christmas dinner, but not quite as elaborate as Thanksgiving. We did get mashed potatoes, but no pie.
For me, Christmas was much more difficult to deal with emotionally than was Thanksgiving. Although the Christmas music, shows, and the like don’t focus on Christ, they do focus on being with family, and the constant reminders that the inmates are not with family make it a hard time for many of the men, including me. During Thanksgiving, I had similar emotions, but only for one day. The Christmas season and emotions pretty much start right after Thanksgiving. So, it is much harder to distance yourself from the emotions for 30 days. I was blessed to have my mom visit on Christmas Day. I didn’t really want my wife and kids to visit on Christmas Day, because I thought it would be a miserable way to spend Christmas for them. My wife would have to stay in Taft, probably away from her family, alone. That’s not fun. I don’t want my kids to remember Christmas as time in a hotel in Taft. Although, I was very thankful to have my mom visit because it helped me get through the day. Only one more Christmas to go, which brings me to New Years.
The biggest celebration that I have seen so far (covering Easter, Cinco De Mayo, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) is New Year’s Eve. This surpassed Christmas by far. Lots of guys cooked and bought all kinds of snacks and stayed up to ring in the new year. I think the start of a new year has considerable significance to those behind bars. It’s the beginning of the year that brings you one more closer to release. It’s a huge psychological boost. The opposite of what most feel at Christmas. At the beginning of a New Year some can say, “I’m going home this year,” or “only one more year.” That sort of thing. Even though only 1 more day has passed, it’s seems to be a huge milestone. I know for me, getting through 2007 was a huge milestone.
The other news that has helped me get through the time here is my new job. I go out to a church in Taft and do janitorial type, some landscaping, and maintenance work with four other guys. The work can be tough, but it does pass the time. We also get fed very well compared to other inmates. We typically get hamburgers, Mexican food, Chinese food, chicken or pizza, and sandwiches. I do this five days a week, and it’s about as normal I have felt in the past 8 months. My first day going on the “out” crew was Dec. 20th. I think getting a normal meal was about the best Christmas present I could have asked for here. In addition, the church prepared an awesome Christmas dinner for us, and that was quite nice.
From Dec. 20 – Jan. 2 we went out 5 days (out of a possible 10 days). We go out every day now. This little church has a prison ministry and I like how they give the men an opportunity to feel productive and useful. The church is Westside Believers Fellowship if you want to look it up. I wouldn’t mind the readers giving them a thank you for me and the prisoners for their ministry to us. If you want to donate to the Taft out crew, I’ll have my brother link to the church website from my blog. I think the church would be really surprised by that.
My youngest son turned 2 in mid-December as well. This day did not bother me as much as the day when my oldest son turned 5 back in Sept. I don’t think my younger son quite knows what his birthday is so it doesn’t bother me as much to not be there for it. I’m sure that when he turns 3 in another year, it will be harder, but by then I will be close to release and won’t have to miss his 4th birthday. I will also be around for my oldest son’s 7th birthday, and that will help with missing the coming birthdays this year.
All in all, for this quarterly update, I’m glad that 2007 is behind me.
Jeff
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2 comments:
I quite enjoy your postings Jeff, thank you (and your brother) for keeping them up.
I have a son in the Camp where you are at, we visit every week,and much of the information he recounts is reflected in your writings as well. But often I'll read something you've posted that I wasn't aware of, that he hasn't mentioned or expanded on, so its v helpful to read your writings as well.
Good luck to you, and keep up the good work. God bless.
i have a son going to taft camp soon. anyting you could share with me would be appreciated. i am interested in how often people can visit.
thank you so much.
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