John
Ewers' Journal from Prison
Dec 18, 2001 - Jan 17, 2002
12-21-01
This starts my sixth, and last, of these monthly
page-turning, nail-biting episodes of the trials &
tribulations of Prisoner John. Read on faithful friend.
This has been a busy week in two ways. The painting of the
rehab has kept me busy from 7:30am till 2:45pm when I jump into
my running stuff and hit the hill.
After the evening meal, I've spent a good chunk of time
reading mail. Frankly, I'm totally in awe and humbled by the
amount and the prayers and encouragement of the mail. They just
called "Mail"-back in a minute. I'm back. I got 26
cards and letters tonight, bringing the total to 86 for the
week! I just can't believe it. I'm going to take a break and
read tonight's mail.
I just finished reading the mail and it was a wonderful
experience. I'm so thankful for all the support I've received. I
feel so strong and so committed to closing the SOA. I know
it is all the prayers that have been offered for me and my
efforts to close the School. One of my absolute favorite
scripture passages is Romans 8: 28-39. In the midst of Paul's
powerful affirmation of God's presence and support is verse 31,
"If God is for us, who can be against us?" I am just
so convinced of this truth. How can I or any of us do less than
our best and expect victory - when it comes to loving our
neighbor as ourself by taking action to support our neighbors!
Boy, this really hypes me. I hope it hypes everyone.
I'm going to bed now. I want to reflect on my prison
experience and what it has taught me as it draws to a close.
I'll save it for next time I journal in this precious, precious
time of the year.
12-23-01
It's a quiet Sunday morning with a gentle rain falling. I
went out & stood on the hill for my prayers with the light
rain falling. It felt so natural, almost being baptized,
certainly being covered by God's goodness in my life. I'm so
thankful for being called to this place at this time.
I spent yesterday getting organized to answer last week and
the week before's mail. I was able to determine that 36 were
Christmas cards from folks I've been in correspondence with and
don't need a response. That left 70 that need a reply. I split
these half and half. I decided that new, first time cards and
letters, I would send the same letter with some custom comments.
I got that setup yesterday. The other half require custom
letters. It's a daunting task overall but I'm still going to try
to leave here 3 weeks from tomorrow with everything answered.
We'll see.
I forgot to mention that each inmate got a sack of goodies
Friday afternoon: mostly candy and munchies. I will admit to
indulging myself Friday night and yesterday. I paid the price
with the need for a dose of milk of magnesia last night. I had
only had one candy bar before that since I came in. I'm OK today
but I'm curious to see if my "binge" will affect next
Friday's weigh-in. On that subject, I did not lose my pound last
week but I'm still on track. I've lost 23 pounds in 23 weeks. I
think and hope I can make it 26 in 26. We'll see.
Mr Sparks, my Case Manager, was doing the goodies hand-out
Friday. When I got mine, he asked me if he'd see me for
Christmas next year. Previously, he's asked me if I'd be back to
prison. My answer was that I can't say one way or the other.
This prompted him to tell me he'd like to see me back and to
keep Ashland in mind if the situation presents itself. I asked
Bill Houston if he'd had the same conversation. He had not. This
prompts me to assume Sparks wants me as a reliable maintenance
"slave" laborer. I don't mean to make light of this.
The decision to do civil disobedience in any movement, to right
a wrong, is a serious one that requires thought and prayer. No
doubt that decision will need to be made-but not now. When it is
made, I hope it will be associated with another cause because
the SOA will be LONG GONE!
I said in Friday's journal that I wanted to reflect on my
prison experience today but I'm not ready. I think about it
quite a bit but I don't think I'm ready to put pencil to paper.
I'll do it later.
I'm off to Christmas Sunday Chapel service with the earnest
hope that there wil be a lot of carol singing and no ranting and
raving sermon.
12-25-01
Merry Christmas! It is a bright, beautiful, crisp,
cold day. Thanks be to God for the gift of Jesus.
I was up this morning about 5:30 and saw something hanging
from the desk. I turned on the light and, "what to my
wondering eyes should appear"-no, it wasn't Santa and the
sleigh. It was a ratty old sock with something in it. A slip of
paper stuck out of it. It said, "Because Johnny has been a
good boy!" As I eagerly reached inside I found: an apple
(from the chow hall), a package of ramen noodles-cajun shrimp
flavor (from our holiday sack) and a "Get Out of Jail
Free-in just 20 days" certificate signed by "Santa
Claus (a.k.a. G Mallon Faircloth)." I don't know if I have
ever laughed that long so early in the morning!
As you may have guessed "Santa Claus" was Bill
Houston. I quickly prepared three crackers spread with peanut
butter for Santa in hopes that he would double back. He did.
I woke up this morning feeling a little "hollow"
and feeling a little sorry for myself but, thankfully, it didn't
last long. I feel great now after some "Merry
Christmas" greetings as I walked the compound, had my
morning devotions and my prayers on the hill. I've arranged to
call Kathy and Peter and their families this morning and then
Paula is coming about 11:00!
The Christmas dinner is after the 10:00 count. It's a repeat
of the Thanksgiving dinner: turkey and all the fixings. I plan
on eating light and giving away what other guys might want,
mostly the turkey.
I've had a good weekend so far answering correspondence. My
backlog is down to 39. My goal is 25 by sack time tonight. We'll
see.
12-29-01
I haven't journaled since Christmas. It's been an interesting
last few days. Here goes.
By sack time Christmas night I had my backlog of
correspondence down to 29-not bad considering I started the long
weekend at 70. I thought I was in pretty good shape-until I went
to mail call Wednesday night. It was the Bill and John show.
Bill got 33 and I got 41! Thankfully, the Thursday and Friday
mail was light - only 7 more. Last night I organized my backlog
for the long weekend ahead. My starting back log is 58-an
improvement over the previous backlog of 70. If I can be as
productive as last weekend, my backlog should be down to 17 by
New Year's night - that's my goal!
I had some great news yesterday. I did my Friday weigh-in and
I had dropped two pounds! Maybe I should binge on chocolate
regularly - NOT! That total brought me to 25 pounds in 24 weeks
and achieved my goal for the incarceration term! My current
weight is 179, a 15 year low. My new goal is 20 pounds more
which might be a greater challenge since it will be on the
outside with some of Paula's scrumptious cooking. However, I'm
on a "roll" and I'm definitely motivated to give it a
shot.
Speaking of food- when Paula visited me Christmas she asked
me what I wanted for my coming-home dinner the fourteenth. I
said I'm not used to getting a choice of foods-she'll have to
pick it and it will be just fine! Seriously, I have heard
stories of guys who have been incarcerated for long sentences
having difficulty making choices and decisions when they get
out. I don't think I'm immune to that. I just need to be aware
of this upcoming change and be aware of the need for adjustment.
We put in our first three days redecorating the house the new
warden will move into. The first day I spent sanding woodwork
and the next two days stripping off wallpaper. Hard work but
essential for a good job. We didn't have extended shifts this
week. They start next Wednesday. I talked to my supervisor, Mr
Kelly, about my schedule. He said the extended time is
voluntary. I asked him about a schedule for me that would give
me an hour break at 3pm to catch my daily run and then to come
back and work 2-3 extra hours. He said that was OK.
I didn't get a bonus in December. No surprise. I'm hoping
that working extra hours will get me a January bonus. My last
work day will be Jan 11 which means I'll work 8 days in January.
I met the new warden yesterday. She came by with one
of her two sons to look at the progress. She spoke to each of
us. We were very impressed at how personable she seemed. I hope
this bodes well for the inmates. I've heard some guys expressing
hope and expectations for improvements. Food and education
opportunities were two things mentioned. The prison system needs
a major overhaul including a BOP objective of reducing the
recidivism rate-but any significant improvement could be
helpful.
An aside- Dion Sanders, the football player is her nephew.
I finished reading the John Adams biography last night. It
was excellent. It gave me knowledge and insight into the
founding of our country. Adams had a number of important
accomplishments. One that impressed me was how he rejected the
desire to declare war on France during his presidential term. It
turned out to be the right strategy as the U.S. delegation was
able to negotiate a favorable peace treaty and keep us out of
war at a critical time. I couldn't help but think how a
peace-loving US President could literally change the world in
our time.
I had tears in my eyes as the book closed with both Adams and
Jefferson dying on the same day, July 4, 1826: the 50th
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. They both were
in poor health but they both hung on for that momentous
occasion.
Speaking of reading, my Bible reading is continuing well. I
don't remember what book I was in when I last commented, but I'm
currently reading Hebrews. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep my
prison discipline of reading a chapter a day. If I do, I'll
finish Revelation towards the end of winter. I have the feeling
that this activity keeps me focused on the important things of
life: as in Romans 12: being in the world but not of the world.
Grandson Eric left Denver for four weeks in Guatemala
Thursday the 27th. He is with three others from the Denver area.
He will meet children from 11 other countries. What a great
experience! He's eleven. When I was eleven in 1946, I was in
seventh grade and the biggest thing was being chosen as Standard
Bearer which was an academic honor. It was right after World War
II, our family didn't have a car and the big travel plans we had
were visiting grandparents about 75 miles away. I wish I felt
that our nation is stronger now than it was then. My hope is
that Eric and his peers will be citizens of the world and lead
the world in understanding and love - and true peace &
justice.
Time to write some letters to my wonderful support group out
there!
01-01-02
Happy New Year!
It didn't feel like a special day. I usually don't get
excited about New Year's like Paula does. Maybe it's because I
don't like pickled herring like she does and she insists on me
having a piece of herring in my mouth at midnight. I think it's
a German tradition. I think it's supposed to bring prosperity in
the new year.
Anyway I went through my normal evening routine and went to
sleep at ten, right after the count. There were a few
"Happy New Year" greetings floating around the
compound. That's about it. Same ole, same ole. The thing that is
different-I can say "I'm going home this month!" A
very sweet feeling and even more so because I feel like I've
accomplished my mission- the reason why God put me here! I have
a sense of fullness and completeness.
I've had a great weekend so far writing letters. I started
Saturday morning with a backlog of 58. As of last night my
backlog is down to 18. I won't zero it out by tonight but I
should be inside ten.
One of the letters I was writing last night was to Anne
Barstow, a member of the Presbterian Peace Fellowship. I was a
couple of paragraphs into the letter when, starting a new
pararaph, I just started writing about my accomplishments and
reflections. I don't know why I picked that time I've never met
Anne but I do feel a kinship as a peace-seeking Presbyterian. I
decided to put it in my journal. Here it is:
I'm finishing up my incarceration in good shape. I've
responded to virtually all of those who wrote me (about 600-700
letters). I restarted a running-for-exercise program that has
helped me lose 25 pounds. I've read about three quarters of the
New Testament. I learned a lot (that I don't like) about the
federal (in)justice system, much of it driven by our useless war
on drugs. I've written letters monthly to Bush, Powell, Rumsfeld,
Senators Voinovich & DeWine and House Rep Tony Hall (the
only "good guy":co-sponsor of HR1810).
My strategy as one of the inmates has been to get to know a
lot of inmates and, hopefully, be a behavior guide for them.
All told it has been a life-changing experience that will
change some of the things I do and how I do them. I'm convinced
God put me here for a reason and I am blessed. I said at my
trial that I felt privileged to be a member of the SOA26,
representing the SOA movement. I was right. I just didn't
comprehend what a privilege and growth opportunity it has
become. "God works in mysterious ways. His wonders to
behold."
Staff here and some of the inmates have asked me if I'd be
back. I told them I didn't know but I haven't ruled it out.
Two weeks from today I hop on the 3:15am Greyhound bound for
Dayton. I'm looking forward to it, especially to reunite with my
wife and family and the College Hill Church folks. But, in an
unexpected (when I came in) way, I'll miss this place -
particularly the guys. By and large, our money-driven nation,
its leaders and most citizens, doesn't "give a shit"
for the poor and the powerless among us. This description surely
includes the two million inmates in our prisons and jails.
I pray for our country and leaders to have the love and the
guts to change this. We need to be ashamed - and most of us
aren't!
01-06-02
Bill and I here at Ashland and thirteen others are in single
digit days left: nine. Bill & I had our second-last
solidarity night last night instead of Thursday. I was too tired
Thursday night after working until 7:30pm Wed & Thurs. We
spent our time last night munching on delicious microwaved
cauliflower and reflecting on our prison stay & experiences.
I've been busy on the warden's house this week and I will be
Mon-Thurs next week so the time will, hopefully, go quickly.
Mail was lighter this week. But I still have about twenty-five
letters to write this weekend to zero out my backlog. That's my
goal going into my final week.
Speaking of goals, I weighed in yesterday at 179-same as last
week. I expected it because I was down two pounds last week. It
looks like I'll lose a pound at my final weigh-in next
Friday and be down a pound a week for my 26 week incarceration
and hit Dayton at a svelte 178, relatively speaking. My new goal
of an additional twenty pounds is still attainable as long as I
don't let the outside world corrupt me. Seriously, I do have to
guard against worldly distractions. I think and hope that my
awareness of this will keep me disciplined. I have felt that my
relatively simple life of incarceration has helped me feel in
solidarity with the poor and the powerless of Latin America and
the world. The siren song of money and how it affects U.S.
citizens is becoming a real concern of mine.
Peter sent me a 2002 Running Log in celebration of our 30th
anniversary of starting running together. It's neat. He designed
it himself. Actually, we started running as a family on the
Aerobics Program in 1972 at the Isaac Newton Junior High School
track in Littleton, Colorado. I have a strong feeling that I'm
going to enjoy this year in many ways, not the least of which is
getting back into running.
I'm going to go to work now and write some letters.
01-12-02
I haven't journaled this week. I decided that would get a
truer feeling by waiting until my last weekend of incarceration.
We'll see. Here goes.
I've been very busy this week working on the warden's house
project. We've worked every night this week and the guys are
working today-but I'm not. My motivation has been OK all week.
I've been successful in keeping a regular routine until
yesterday. Bill & I had a 7:30am callout for R&D(D as in
"discharge"!). We had a "merry go-round"
which is a process of getting a sign-off from various department
and staff. All of a sudden yesterday morning my focus was on
getting out. My motivations to work was dissipating. That's when
I decided not to work today and to focus on journaling and
writing a few letters to folks who wrote me this week.
I felt good about being on pretty much my regular routine. I
did have a tough time keeping my physical energy level up. The
most time I was able to work in the evening was 2 hours. I kept
my regular running routine but I slowed down on my 3 mile hill
run early in the week and then dropped it to a 2 1/2 mile run
Wed & Thurs. Yesterday I had to workout in my 4 pound work
boots so I walked the hill for 3 miles with two separate run
laps. My weigh in was a solid 178 which was down a pound from
last week. So I ended my incarceration down from 204 to 178-26
pounds in 26 weeks.
The merry-go-round yesterday went well until we got to
"packing out." This is when we pull out everything
that we want to walk out the door with. The trick is it has to
be boxed and taped. The only thing we could keep for the weekend
is clothes. Our travelling clothes are set aside in R&D. At
2am Monday morning I'll turn in the rest of my prison-issue
clothes and change to my travelling clothes. Then, me, with one
box of belongings, walk out the front door of FPC Ashland. We
had a bit of trouble getting the pack-out completed and I
finished at 2pm. A bit of a hassle but it all worked out. A
minor inconvenience is not having my watch (set aside with
travelling clothes) and my Bible, devotional book,
correspondence material and current book I'm reading which had
to be boxed with other belongings.
An interesting part of the merry-go-round was getting the
sign-off by the Camp Administrator Spurlock. We talked briefly.
I said my stay was a good experience. He laughed and said he
didn't think he'd heard anyone say that before. Mr Sparks, my
Case Manager, said I could still avail myself of psychological
services. In my first couple of weeks I had said in a staff
meeting that "I am glad to be here." I got the same
offer of "services" at that time. I can now say with a
certainity that I was right!, No need for psychological
services.
I had an intense prayer time on the hill this morning. I was
just standing there taking in the sounds and sights in front of
me and getting in touch with my feelings of the moment. All of a
sudden I realized that I was feeling guilty. I was feeling that
many other guys in the compound deserved to get out as I do. I
may have had that in my consciousness as a result of talking
with a relatively new guy at lunch yesterday.
His was another drug "crime" story that starts with
the feds arresting a marijuana dealer who then
"cooperates" with the prosecutor and implicates this
guy (call him "Joe") as one of his customers. The
dealer tells the prosecutor how much "Joe" buys a
month. The prosecutor says that's not enough to arrest
"Joe"-he needs to be buying "x" amount. The
dealer changes the amount to what the prosecutor says.
"Joe" gets arrested. The prosecutor says he should get
five years but he'll make it 18 months if he'll plead guilty.
"Joe" thinks he can beat it because there is no hard
evidence. "Joe" asks for a jury trial. At trial the
dealer admits that "Joe" didn't buy what the
indictment says. The jury still finds him guilty.
"Joe" gets five years.
I could go into this deeper but I won't. Suffice it to say
that the prosecution's use of "cooperation" without
supporting evidence leaves a gaping hole of injustice in the
drug laws. From what I've learned from the inmates, the guys
most likely to be caught in the web of prosecutorial deceit are
those that can't afford a competent attorney: the poor, racial
,minorities. Sickening!
I'm going to write some letters now. I'll journal more
tomorrow.
01-13-02
My last full night of sleep at FPC Ashland was pretty good. I
woke up a few times but went back to sleep pretty easily.
Yesterday was a good day. I wrote eight of ten letters in my
backlog. I said good-bye to quite a few guys. It was mostly
pleasantries. Some of the guys have asked both Bill and I
whether we'll be back. I say, usually, that, "I can't rule
it out" or, "It's possible." My basic feeling at
this point is that I'd rather not come back. I think I've
learned a lot and accomplished a lot and I'm not sure what
benefit it would be for me or the movement. I know I will stay
involved in the movement until the SOA is closed. I think I can
be at least as useful on the outside as I have been on the
inside. That is my current logic and I think it's sound. But I
can't predict the future.
Bill and I talked about how to handle tonight. We both want
to sleep. We will go to bed early. The CO's will wake us about
1:30am. We both think we might already be up. We think we'll be
able to doze on the bus to Columbus.
An interesting side light to my departure is that I'm meeting
a retired reporter for the "Ashland Independent", the
local newspaper. He made contact with Paula as a result of this
journal being posted on the poetics website. He wrote me a
letter and said he would meet me at the bus station tonight. He
wants to write an article for the "Independent". It
sounds interesting.
There may be some folks meeting us in Columbus during our one
hour layover there and I'm quite sure there will be folks
meeting us at Springfield and Dayton when we arrive- Bill about
8:45am and me at 8:55am in Dayton.
I'm taking a break now for our Bible study, my last one. It
has been a great study with great leaders in Jeff and Steve. I
haven't missed a Sunday! Of course, where else would I be?
I'm back from Bible study, the 10:00 count and chow. Bible
study was excellent, as usual. Our final prayers included those
for me and mine for the continuing spiritual influence of the
brothers on those in the compound who need a spiritual presence
in their lives. There is no question in my mind that the
opportunity for study, reflection and prayer while I am here has
strengthened me in my spiritual journey. I know I must sustain
this when I'm out. I also know that it will require more
discipline on my part but I also know the benefit of doing so
will be a more abundant life. Praise God!
I said in my journal a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to
reflect on my observations of the culture of the prison and
prison life. Now is the time I need to try to do this although I
feel tentative about my ability to do this objectively.
Neverthless, here goes.
By and large, the guys get along with each other pretty well.
Fights are rare. Arguments and harsh words are not uncommon but
not a big deal. I see guys routinely sidestep a disagreement
because of the potential of it getting out of hand and leading
to guys getting "shots" that are punitive and thus can
lead to loss of privileges or worse.
Another aspect that supports self control is that there is
virtually no formal or informal system of an inmate authority
assignment established by staff. A lot of things get done among
inmates as helpful suggestions or ideas just "tossed out
there." I would say, though, that leadership by example is
definitely a practical useful tactic well used.
Relationships between and among inmates range from very
casual to quite deep. In this respect, I don't think
relationships are much different here than on the outside. Time
and circumstances determine relationships as well, just like
outside. The key thing that is different in relationships is the
relative narrowness of discussion topics and critical comments.
I think it is because of the parochial, small town atmosphere.
It is a small fenced in area containg 300 men. There is limited
contact with the outside directly or indirectly. The contact
with staff and authority is brief, infrequent, negative, rarely
positive.
All of this seems to lead to discussions about arrest,
indictment, trial, sentencing, appeals, work and living
assignments and the like, all of which have the potential for
negative overtones. The, "I got screwed" attitude is
pervasive.
Almost inevitably, the negatives include tearing down the
people who are involved in the negative circumstances being
discussed. I'm a bit out of my knowledge "comfort
zone" but I think a lot of the negativity is because of the
frustation of being powerless to do something about what is
being discussed. Inevitably, discussion of the involvement of
fellow inmates and criticism of them takes place.
Contributing to the harshness and negativity is the total
out-of-control use of profanity punctuated by shouting. All
told, for me, it is an uncomfortable environment to be in. I
tend to limit my conversations and, for my part, not use
profanity, loud talk or discussions with negative, people
oriented discussions. The exception is when I can get a
discussion of why a guy is in here. This helps me learn more
about the system from the inmate's point of view.
What should be done to change for the better what currently
exists? Number one is to set up an educational system that
recognizes that FPC's no longer have short term sentences -
under 2 years. The vast majority of jobs are part-time.
Opportunities for self-improvement are virtually non-existent.
Open time is huge and is filled by sleep, TV, cards (including
gambling), standing and sitting around and smoking, exercise.
The horrible off-shoot of long sentences and the above is
young men with 5-10 year sentences released to half-way houses
and then dumped on the street with no marketable skills and a
"felon" tag hanging around their neck. I don't need to
paint the scenarios associated with this.
There is surely more I can write and maybe I will in the next
few days, before I close month six of my journal at home at the
end of the week. One thing I will do is to work with some
organization that is working on reforming the federal justice
system. There is a huge population of talented non-violent men
and women incarcerated who can be contributing citizens. This is
a United States of America crime against humanity of major
proportions.
01-17-02
I'm home! I'm sitting at the keyboard at our computer. I'm
dressed in comfortable clothes after a nice soup and sandwich
lunch. It's the fourth day after release. I feel like I've
adjusted pretty well so far. Paula and I have stayed home and
totally enjoyed being in touch with each other. We intend to
keep it that way for the next week or two. We will gradually
widen our "world" and I will feel my way back into
more contacts with friends and activities. I'm trying to stay in
touch with the way I'm feeling. I'll recap the happenings since
I left Ashland FPC and then close the book on my prison journal.
Monday, the 14th, I woke up about 1:00am to answer nature's
call. Bill was up doing the same. He went back to bed but I
stayed up, dressed and went up front. The CO said for me to get
Bill up which I did. He took us into R&D to change into our
travelling clothes. He gave us our paperwork, bus ticket , the
balance of money in our commissary accounts in cash. A taxi was
there waiting to take us to the bus station. We just walked out
the door. That was it. For no particular reason I repeated a
line from an MLK speech or sermon: "Free at last. I'm free
at last. Thank God Almighty. I'm free at last." I don't
remember the context of him saying that but it fit well the way
I felt.
We arrived at the bus station at 2:30 am. It was locked. The
bus was due at 3:15am. It was cold but in short order, we were
met by a reporter for the "Ashland Independent", the
local newspaper. I did mention this previously that George
Wolfford had contacted me through Paula as a result of him
reading this journal and he was interested in doing a piece on
us. We stood in the cold and he interviewed Bill and me. He's an
interesting guy and it was fun to work with him. I think it will
be published in the January 27 Sunday paper. He promised to send
a copy. He called this morning and talked a bit more.
We got on the bus to Columbus, stopped once and arrived in
Columbus right on time at 6:30 am. Bill and I both slept, Bill a
little more than I. We had a small and energetic foursome
greeting us in Columbus. Mary Hershberger, Phil and Mary Kahal
and another guy whose name I can't remember. Mary brought us a
light breakfast which we enjoyed while we chatted. They even had
a "welcome" sign for us. As it turned out, that was
just the beginning of a very eventful morning. We left 20
minutes late making a stop in Springfield which allowed Bill
& I to be on the same bus. Originally Bill was to have taken
a different bus out of Columbus. Bill was greeted by Hazel and
family and a boisterous crowd of about twenty five well wishers
as he got off the bus.
We got going again headed for Dayton. I had an opportunity to
talk to a couple of passengers about what I was involved with
and where Bill and I had been. It was fun. The closer we got to
Dayton, I started recognizing things and I was starting to get
hyped up. We finally pulled into the bus station a little late.
As we pulled into a stop, there was no one there that I could
see.
That changed quickly! Paula and a couple of guys came running
out. Paula and I had a big hug and kiss. Son Richard was there
and he took my box. Then I focused on the inside of the terminal
and I saw a huge bunch of people most of whom I recognized. I
walked in to shouts, applause. But nobody came forward and I
just stood there dumfounded. I think I broke the ice by saying
that I had been inoculated in prison and if someone touched me
they wouldn't go to prison. After that I moved into the crowd
and commenced to hug and kiss anyone I could get my hands on.
After a few minutes, someone asked me to say something. The only
thing I remember saying was that I was totally overwhelmed. Then
I know I said some other stuff ending with this kind of support
and enthusiasm we can close the SOA. It was a moment I will
cherish forever.
The local Pledge of Resistance group that ties to SOA Watch
had done a great job of getting the crowd out and also two TV
stations and two newspapers. So I had four interviews that
generated very nice coverage. It was very good for awareness of
the importance of closing the School.
We finally broke up and Paula and I headed home. I won't say
much about the rest of the day except that it was SPECIAL! I
will also say that she and I ended our six month period of
celibacy and I ended my "dry" spell with a delicious
rob roy cocktail before a terrific boiled dinner. One other
thing. I spent some time going through my wardrobe and finding a
lot of great clothes that have been hanging in the closet that
now fit me. What a treat to try them on.
The rest of the time up till now has been relaxing, starting
to read e-mails, staying in my regular routine of Bible and
prayer and running. I had a great five mile run Monday afternoon
on a neighborhood course that is one of my favorites. Yesterday
we went downtown to gather with other demonstrators to picket
for peace. That felt good. Tonight there is a potluck dinner at
our church, College Hill Community Presbyterian Church. I'll get
a chance to say a few things. Then I'll join the choir for
practice as I slide back into the bass section.
As I said earlier, I'm getting back into it. But I can't -
and I hope won't - forget the great experience I've just had.
I'm so privileged to have been involved in a life-changing
experience. I pray for God's continuing guidance in my life. I
am so thankful for the wonderful support I've received from so
many people. I hope I can stay in touch and that as many as want
to, will stay in touch with me as we work together to close the
SOA/WHISC. May God bless all of us in this movement that is so
important to our poor and powerless brothers and sisters in
Latin America. Together - we can !!
The End
