Roy Where Are You!

Tinkerbell woke me at three this morning wanting to be fed and so here I am wide awake thinking of you. Hope you are well and that you remembered to change your clocks. It just dawned on me that it was not four in the morning but actually five.

First before I go any farther I want to thank you for your sweet caring comments, phone calls and emails. I am trying to be strong but when it comes to my kids then I find it much harder to deal with that if it is myself. We are still waiting on more test results for my son but I know with all your prayers that he is going to fine. So from the bottom of my heart Thank You!

A few post back I wrote you about my working with a lady in the Mail Room who later ended up in prison herself for murder. Well this morning I want to tell you about my getting hired on at the prison in Texas.

When you apply for any position at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice your paper work lands on several different desk before actually landing in the hands of the department you applied. I had no idea that if your selected for a job interview that you go before a TDC Board which usually consist of five or more people from that Unit.

The morning I first walked into that prison I had no idea what was waiting on me behind those guarded walls with razor wire strung completely around the unit.

After going through the security of the main gate I was told where to go and wait for someone to take me to the job interview. It was intimidating but not near the intimidation I felt when I walked inside the room where five men and one woman were sitting. In the middle of the room was a man behind this enormous desk with a empty chair in front of it where I was ask to sit.

He introduced his self as Warden so and so which I missed the Warden title all together and then he went around the room introducing me to a Major, Captain, Lt and so on. I immediately thought they had sent me to the wrong interview because I was going up for a clerical job not some big position.

Little did I know at the time that this was how all positions were processed and before you went up for these positions you had better do your homework because these guys don’t fool around. Their there to see how well you know the job your going up for and if you did your homework.

Well know one told me this when I applied for this position which was in Human Resources. What the other applicants knew that I did not was you visited the unit before this interview and pick up study material.

Needless to say I winged my way through their bombardment of questions and most answers I am sure were not what they were looking for but I did my best.

Then this man behind the desk who I had no clue was a Warden asked me the final question. He said, “How would you handle working for an old man who was hard to get along with, gripes all the time and yells a lot?” I answered, “Well if you don’t bother me I won't bother you!”

This man behind the desk brought down his hand on that desk so hard and screamed, “Hell I wasn’t talking about my self!”

Dumb Maggie said, “Well who were you talking about!”  He points to a Lt. that was sitting almost behind me rolling almost out of his chair in laughter. I then noticed all the ranks were laughing their fool heads off.

I did not get that job but a week later that Lt. called and offered me a mail room position where I ask does this mean I have to go up before all those men again. He assured me that No they were hiring me from that board. Haha

Turns out this Warden five years later got me through one of the toughest times in my life. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I have never told many people what I am writing here this morning but I honestly believe that if it had not been for this man I would not be sitting here today as a Cancer Survivor.

The day after I was told I had cancer I walked into the unit not knowing that my Major had already told the Wardens of what I was facing. Each day before I reported to my job I visited with the ladies in the front office for maybe ten minutes. I walked into that office and they all said hello and then one by one left the room leaving me with this Warden who was sitting at one of their desk.

He motioned me to sit at another desk and I did. For the next ten minutes or longer he never took his eyes off of mine and we sat there looking at each other with tears in our eyes. It was so strange. Neither one of us speaking which if you knew the history of him and I it was usually a lot of yelling back and forth but not this day. He just sat there I know now he did not know what to say to me.

Finally I stood up to walk out of the room because I had to get to work and he said, “Stand up straight and hold your head up. Don’t ever let me see you with your head down.”

Walking to the back to start my day I thought what just happened? In the months to follow I was told no one could ask him about me and how I was doing because he would not talk about it.

He was there for me through all my treatments and tried his best to get me to take time off. I knew I was stronger being around him so I came to work every day. The last week of treatments I guess I looked really bad because when I walked into that front office to visit with my friends like I did every day he came into the room and screamed like he always did but this time telling me to go back home. I refused and he escorted me to my car. He told me to go home go to bed for the rest of the day and not to show back up for a week. I was of course fighting him all the way to my car but once I got home and in bed I knew that he had saved me.

Actually I did not realize until years later this man was the reason I got up every day went to my treatments and then drove to work.

Now I need him again. Roy where are you, I need you!

Love to all

Maggie

PS> This is the only picture of Roy that I have that was taken at a Birthday party for my boss. He was sitting to the left of me and my friend Sharon to the right. The idiot leaning over my neck was the Captain. I must of said something dumb because before I knew it he was over behind me acting like I guess he was blowing up a Blonde doll. Who knows?