From the moment I saw her, I felt an instant dislike. She had a rugged appearance, with tattoos covering her face, neck, and arms. Her walk exuded a cockiness that made it clear she wouldn’t take nonsense from anyone. She spent her time smoking and asserting her powerful presence in the yard.
Whenever I encountered a new inmate, my first thought was always, “What did they do to end up here?” My initial assumptions were usually “drugs” or “DUI.” However, as I got to know more about people, I realized their stories were often much more complex.
One woman was in for theft and trespassing after living in a deceased man’s house for over a year. His family, who lived out of state, were waiting for the courts to settle his estate before putting the house on the market. In the meantime, the fully furnished house sat vacant. She knew about his family situation and decided to move in. While living there, she found a collection of rare coins, which she pawned to buy groceries. Another woman was in for arson after setting her condescending boss’s house and cars on fire in an act of revenge.
However, most of the women I met had done things many others have done – shoplifting a shirt, driving home from happy hour buzzed, or falsely applying for unemployment and food stamps because their current jobs didn’t pay the rent. They just happened to be the unlucky ones who got caught. Regardless of the cause, guilty or innocent, during my stay, I realized that every single person means something to somebody.
One day, as I was returning from work, the gate officer was letting a family in for a weekday visit. We stood in line patiently, waiting for the guests to be processed. Soon, a little boy, about four years old, came running through the gates toward the visiting area. He was yelling, “Mom! Mom! I’m here! I finally get to see you! Mom! It’s me, I’m here!” He was calling for his mother, whom he hadn’t seen in who knows how long. He was so excited that he couldn’t hold back, even though she was inside and couldn’t see or hear him. All of us witnessing this tender moment couldn’t help but shed some tears. The reunion hit home for all of us who were missing our families and friends. After a couple of minutes, his mother came out of the visiting area door – it was the rugged lady I had assumed was just a nobody acting tough for attention. However, she was a mother, loved, missed, and needed by this little boy.
B2tRUE 