My Very Own Memorandum

I was so absorbed with UNDUE INFLUENCE by Steve Martini, I nearly completed reading it yesterday after starting it the day before. I had time alone which is a rarity in the evening as my roommate went off to the television room to watch a movie. This is extremely rare because he almost never ventures into the TV room. The movie was MILLION DOLLAR BABY that won an academy award for the best picture a few years ago. My roommate had never seen it and was quite interested in watching it. I have seen it and it truly was a remarkable movie. I would have seen it again, but I thought the television room would have been crowded so I remained in my room reading UNDUE INFLUENCE. As it turned out, the room wasn’t crowded since it wasn’t a recent movie nor was it an “action” movie. My roommate did enjoy the movie immensely and it gave me time to read my book even further.

The book was very good, the storyline intriguing, and flowed very nicely. There was a twist which I didn’t see coming at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and would recommend it highly.

Last night my roommate came through for dinner once again. With fried fish on the menu, my roommate made a face of disgust when I mentioned this and did his best to rustle us up some dinner. We too had fish, but our own fish was baked and with mushrooms, peppers, and jalapenos. It was delicious and quite filling. I have been well taken care of with my “special” diet throughout this journey. The first month was shaky as I resided in the county jail. However, each step from there got progressively better and with my roommate it couldn’t possibly get any better than that.

Today ((10 days before release) I received my very own memorandum regarding my “special” diet. There had been some controversy regarding the diets of the non-meat eaters and now that has been solved. By the way, there are only two “official” non-meat eaters in the entire camp and yours truly is one of them. The other is an inmate who eats no meat due to his religious beliefs. My roommate does not fall into this category because he does eat chicken and turkey. According to the memo, I am “entitled to receive extra non-meat food items when going through the chow hall line.” This was very nice and with only 10 days remaining until I parole this was not necessary. However, procedure is procedure and since I am one of the two non-meat eaters, I can now officially receive extra rice and beans when going through chow line. As I mentioned I have been doing very well with my food and I know this was a big concern of mine when I started this journey 19 months ago. That concern faded over the months and amazingly worked out for the very best. This may seem inconsequential, but it is another example of how well this journey has worked out for me. I am so grateful for everything.

I was able to call my wife and speak with her along with my son. My daughter was at cheering practice (when did cheerleading get shortened to cheering) so she was unavailable. My son was very funny and sounded great. My wife informed me she confirmed her airline reservation for next week. She is flying in on Sunday and flying out on Friday. I will be able to spend Wednesday, Thursday, and part of Friday with her. I won’t be able to fly back with her as my wife did speak with my parole agent. She informed my wife that it was too soon for me to fly back east even to visit my children. My wife then asked her about going back to NJ for my daughter’s communion at the end of April. The parole agent couldn’t commit to an answer and was more inclined to say “no”, as it would be too soon to allow me to leave the state.

This could be construed as bad news but as I mentioned to my wife the parole agent has no idea who I am and doesn’t know me from a hole in the wall. I very well may not be allowed to go back for my daughter’s communion, but I am not about to worry or concern myself about it. Whatever is going to happen will and it will be for the very best. I will adhere to the parole agent’s requests and most assuredly I will do what I am told. I will not jeopardize anything and if my family has to come out here so I can be with them as I am allowed to see them in NJ – so be it. I was concerned that I may have made a bad first impression with the parole agent even though I have yet to see or talk with her. Again, I cannot worry about this and I will meet with the parole agent for the first time on the 27th. I do believe once she gets to know me and I what I stand for everything will be great. This is not the time to panic and it will never be the time to panic.