mattsgirl's Journal

Journal Entry for May 21, 2008 Mood

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 | A Happy story

Today, I was driving in my car and listening to the radio. There was a story about an inmate in Nebraska who was given a pass to go see his dying mother in the hospital before she passed away, and the people on the air were talking about things like "is this fair?" "are these passes available to all inmates?" "Shouldn't you have to give up rights like that when you commit a crime?" It just pissed me off that no one was there to advocate or speak for the inmate or his family. So, not to let this injustice go unnoticed, I called the station, and gave them the perspective of someone who had to go through this. Here's the thing: when I picked up the phone, my intent was to explain how these passes are determined and that they are not "given" away. There are steep fees and massive amounts of rules and regulations and red tape to go through. Also they were under the impression that the inmate was simply released to his mother. Such is not the case. They are in shackles and handcuffs, lead by two guards who do not leave your sight. What ended up happening was that through my answers to their questions(they had lots! No one else they spoke to had any real experience, only an opinion) I began to feel better about the situation. I have never really spoken about my husbands incarceration to anyone outside our immediate family. It felt good to speak about my experience and to help someone else understand what it's like to go through this. Though neither one of the radio personalities had ever gone through this, they were very curious, while still being respectful and nonjudgemental. I'm not sure if what I had to say helped anyone else listening, but I know I answered a lot of questions that I think "outsiders" are curious about and I know that it helped me tremendously to finally talk about it. What I thought would be a "confrontational" call turned out to be one of the most helpful things to come about in this little adventure I call my life.