Young Man In Prison!

Here it is several days past the time I was going to do this post. I have to tell you I am busier now than when I held down two jobs. 

How all of you do it working full time, children and hubbies to take care of and still blog is amazing to me.

I was looking for a picture to go along with the prison story I wanted to share with you but could not find one but look at the pic's I did find on this site  Vintage Mugshots from the 1920s [30 Photos]

These are old mug shots from the 1920's. I found them kind of interesting in that the way the pictures were taken. Not anywhere near the mug shots of today's prisons.

Did everyone wear suits and hats in the 1920's?

Take a look at this guy!

Or these two!

I guess back then they saved money by taking group pictures.

This last one of the way the guy is posing with his legs spread and hat on is just too much.

On this site it tells you also what these guys were arrested for...I will let you just guess while your looking over their pictures.











The story I wanted to share with you today is a sad one so you may want to skip my story. It's about a very young man of 18 who came to our prison with full blown aids.

It was state policy or federal policy not sure which but we were not told which inmates were infected with the aid's virus when incarcerated at our unit. This we felt was not right but as the saying went Inmates always had more rights than the Officers.

In this young man's case we didn't have to be told because it was obvious how sick he was and very soon he ended up in our infirmary. This is where I met him and my story begins.

I was told by my Sgt to report to the Infirmary for a Medical transfer to the John Sealy Hospital in Galveston. My shift was almost over and I was tired and ready to go home. Taking a Inmate 150 miles
at the end of my work day was not what this ole tired woman had in mind. My bed was calling me.

Having been working in a prison for a while I thought I had already pretty well seen everything there was to see but when I stepped inside our Infirmary to get this inmate I have to tell you I had to do everything to control my emotions. Never had I seen a man or boy in his case walking toward me that looked like something out of a horror movie. He absolutely looked like the actors in the Walking Dead.  Covered in horrible sores from head to toe. Just unbelievable sight.

He could  barely stand yet he was scuffling  toward me with handcuffs and leg shackles on pulling his bag of personal property.

I reached for some gloves and then I took  the bag from him to pull myself. I knew this was a No No but like I said this boy was barely walking.

Before I could take two steps toward the door the Officer assigned to the Infirmary that night told me No way was I carrying that for him. He even went so far as to tell me he would call the Sgt if he had too.

The Officer then pulled me aside and started explaining to me that if I knew the crimes this young Inmate had committed I would not be offering to help him.

Don't get me wrong I was upset hearing what he had done. Disgusted that anyone could be so cruel but I knew that he was dying and as a human being first Officer second I wasn't going to walk the long distance to our back gate watching this Inmate try to pull this bag.

I knew I was breaking rules but sometimes in situations your faced with you feel like I did you had no choice.

On the ride to the hospital very few words were exchanged with the two of us but he did manage to tell me that all he had in this world was a Dad and he was locked up in another Texas prison. He ask if his Dad could be notified of his going to John Sealy. I assured him that someone would take care of notifying the other Unit where his Dad was incarcerated.

He did admit to me how scared he was because he knew that he was dying. I told him I understood  and that we could talk about it and even pray together. Maybe later was his reply. I explained to him there would be a Inmate Chaplin there at the hospital and he should spend time with him.

Upon our end of our long drive he thanked me for helping with his bag.

I remember riding back and thinking to myself what a sad long drive that was for that Inmate and for me because of not knowing the right words to say to him. Little did I know that only a few weeks later I would be coming home from Houston  on  another trip from a hospital but this time the journey home was even harder. My girlfriend ask me to ride with her to get test results from her doctor and then we would shop and have lunch.

She came out of the doctors office and collapsed  into my arms. The doctor  had told her she had six months or less to live.  I was beyond shocked . One minute I am sitting in the waiting room waiting on Barbara to come out from her appointment and the next we are holding each other sobbing.

I still can't believe that this doctor gave her no indication that he was going to be giving her this kind of news. She could of brought her husband along instead of a friend. Unbelievable!

Needless to say that turned out to be a even harder trip than the one with the young man. The next five months I was able to stay with her during the day and her husband at night.  She never gave up hope that the doctors were wrong and went to several others for test but it the end we lost her.

Sorry for sharing such a sad story with you today. I have so many stories of my days working in the prison and now and then want to share them.

Thanks for visiting with me today. I hope you are having a good week. I painted my front porch yesterday morning and now it is gray instead of green. Will take some pic's.  Did not realize how much furniture and other stuff I had on my porch until I had to take it all off. Pretty sure not all is going back on it.

Today I am cleaning my little back yard and spraying weeds around the fences. I am tired of trying to weed eat them so I am hoping this spraying will take care of some of that work.

Be good and stay cool. As always

Love to all
Maggie