My INCREDIBLE Friends

Let me start with the requisite night’s sleep. The pattern is that my friend gets up and then me. This happened twice again last night. I guess our systems are in synchrony because we spend so much time together! (This maybe a joke but probably correct) I was able to sleep for 3 hour stretches so the night’s sleep was a success.

After my shower I went to the television room which is located on the other side of the camp. The camp itself is not very big, probably only 1/3 of a mile in circumference. I stayed in the area watching the early news on a Los Angeles station. I have to say the broadcasts out of New York and Los Angeles for the local news are so much more professional than any other areas. Over the past 7 months I have viewed the Sacramento local news which looks like Podunk, Iowa broadcast (no offense to Podunk!)

After breakfast, it was back to my room where I would watch for my visitors to arrive. I have a very good view of the visiting area from my window and at a little past 8:30 am, I watched the cars enter the visitors parking lot. I saw my friend’s car turn in and then I moved outside. I waited about 5 minutes for my name to be called and then went to the office and headed toward the visiting area. I arrived and saw my INCREDIBLE friends standing near a picnic table. I have been her three weekends and my friend has now visited me each of these weekends. How did I get so fortunate to get these wonderful friends? I was so happy to see them and greeted each with a big hug. My heart was so warmed when I saw them. They are truly remarkable people. I know I have a tendency to go on and on describing my friends but mere words do not do them justice. These are special people in my life and I am not overstating my love for them. I have looked forward to receiving visits for such a long time and now I am receiving at least one per weekend, thanks to these great friends.

My friends not only came to see me, they came to feed me, too. They came bearing real substantive food. They had brought fish, not just any fish, but swordfish and shark. I have not had a piece of real fish like this in almost a year. There are grills in the visiting area and my friends brought charcoal for the grill and it was my duty to cook the fish on the grill. I welcomed this because I haven’t done any real cooking in almost a year. I was a little nervous because fish can be a little tricky cooking it on a grill. My friends even came with marinade and seasonings which I used to marinate the fish.

My friends arrived a little early and we had plenty of time to cook the fish. We passed the time snacking on sunflower seeds and peanuts. They even brought my favorite soda which was Hansen’s diet root beer and diet black cherry. The time seemed to fly by and it was time to put the corn on the cob on the grill. The fish came out wonderfully! We had the fish, corn, and a delicious salad my friend made. Everything was truly great as was the company. This was the best meal I have had in almost a year thanks to my amazing friends! They brought so much we had leftovers which we gave away to another inmate and his family. I guess the fish was good because they enjoyed it as well.

The visit was perfect but I have to admit when I saw another inmate’s young children run toward him as he walked into the visiting area, my thoughts turned to my son and daughter. I can’t wait for them to run toward me when I come into the visiting area next month. Other than that the visit was extraordinary. I had a smile on my face the entire time. It was time to clean up and it was time for them to go. Once again each of us embraced and the warm feeling I had inside was rekindled. I walked them out and they got into their car to head home. I gave them a wave and they were off.

I continue to be blown away by all the blessings in my life. Thank you to my INCREDIBLE friends!