2 YEAR MILESTONE

April 13, 2009 marks my second year at Taft Federal Prison Camp. Two years is a long time to spend anywhere. The journey, or whatever you want to call this, is almost over. I have three and a half months before I leave the camp and go to the halfway house.

A lot has happened since my last quarterly update in mid-January. It was only about a week after my last update when several friends of mine were baptized. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what baptism is, I’ll briefly explain. Getting baptized is an outward or public statement that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. The act of being submersed in water and coming out symbolizes Jesus’ death and resurrection. To many Christians, it’s an important event and one that we celebrate. Because the Protestant church here encompasses many denominations, these men were not being baptized into a church or to a specific denomination. They just wanted to show publicly that they had received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

The event was important to me because a couple of guys with whom I had spent considerable time, were baptized. It was encouraging to me to see that my relationships with these men were worthwhile. It was bittersweet as well because one guy in particular with whom I was a good friend has left Taft Camp to go to the drug program. I miss the friendship and laughs that we shared, but I know the drug program will help him get more time off his sentence and allow him to resume his life [sooner].

It turns out that this past three months could be summarized by “friends leaving”. In late March, my bunkee Munson, left. I had lived with Munson for fourteen months, about half of my total time here. Munson made me laugh and he was a great bunkee. I’m a big believer in having a bunkee you get along with. It makes the time much easier to do. Why add stress to an already stressful situation? Sometimes you can’t help whom you live with, but with patience you usually can reduce a bad situation from occurring.

My Dad is a good example. He lived in a two-man cube for fourteen months before he moved. He now lives with me. He might have been able to move sooner, but he probably would have gotten an unknown bunkee, a middle two-man cube and a cube not much quieter than what he had. I’m not going to say my cube location is any quieter than his other options, but it’s a window cube, which, in my opinion, is highly preferable.

I’ve only lived with my Dad a few weeks now, but I would rather have Dad than most other options. My Dad is very different from Munson. Munson would talk, make jokes, and converse on a variety of topics. My Dad mostly reads and does crossword puzzles. My Dad can converse on a wide variety of topics; he just usually doesn’t. Nonetheless, I’m glad I have some sense of familiarity. I’m learning some things about my Dad that I didn’t know. For one, I had no idea he did crossword puzzles or Soduko. I had no idea he like corn chips so much, either. He is very routine, which explains a lot about where I got my anal retentive personality. It’s from my Dad!

Probably my closest friend during my time here left on Easter Sunday. Doug had been here twenty-two months. Those twenty-two months were much better for me having someone to talk to and laugh with. Doug was an answer to my prayers early on that I could find a close friend.

Other than friends leaving, I’ve managed to work my way up to $50 a month in pay. I’m probably in the top ten percent of income earners amongst the inmates. It’s probably the only time in my life I’ll be in the top ten percent of income earners anywhere. My job as the fire/safety clerk has improved. I’ve managed to inform the staff of my job duties and demonstrate that I actually do my job. Life is much easier. I enjoy my office and the privacy. You don’t get much time to be alone, to write or think without interruption, so my office is an oasis. As I’ve written earlier, I’m making the job work for me.

Unfortunately I’m not playing soccer anymore. I found that I was getting injured frequently. I’ve been battling some sort of abdominal strain for a while. I’ve been walking a lot though and have recently started jogging again. So far I feel o.k.

That’s pretty much it for now.