You'll Never Guess What's Reared Its Ugly Head Again...

After 21 months...

Really?  Are you playing some kinda cruel joke on me?  

WTF?

Well, at least I am not preggers... but how funny would that be if me and BOTH my daughters were preggo at the same time?

This has got to be a world record... and of course, lucky me, to hold it!

That's it... period!

Visit It's Not Always ApParent...

For update on mom... and what else has been going on in my 'wonderful' life!

Actually, it's a wonderful life... filled with crap I have to deal with :)  

Happy Friday folks, bring on the weekend!

Whelp, He's 6 Hours Away...

Pittsburgh is his home prison...

Just about as far away from home as possible... there's probably another one further, like in Erie, but still he's been placed clear across the state.

Ah, more to come.

Still Haven't Seen Him

So my education of the state penal system remains at bay.  It's coming soon, of this I am sure... it will come.

I have been emailing him and he's been responding by writing letters and using snail mail, aka USPS. So the responses are delayed a wee bit.

Have not had a chance to speak live with him over the phone, with the exception of a '20 second FREE call' which cut me off in mid-sentence.  We basically said hi and he said he's not good...

Once cut off, a recording tells you that you can stay on and find out how you can begin to receive calls from your inmate... whoo hoo!

After about 20 minutes 'talking' and 'keying in' information oh, and giving my credit card #, I am registered to begin getting calls.  In the meantime, he tried to call me twice but I wasn't able to take his call b/c I wasn't going to hang up on the 'automated voice' that was registering me.  oh and while registering you get the option to hear what a typical 15 minute phone call would cost based on 'your inmate's' location.  

Of course! I'd like to know how much a call would cost so I can figure out how much is left.  The automated voice tells me how much based on the inmate's location... which was the first location he went to when starting his state sentencing... OMG, he's been transferred back to THAT facility as his 'home' prison?  THAT facility, where on his first night there a fellow inmate was stabbed in the shower and he decided NOT to take a shower???  OMG, is this what 'not so good' meant when he said it?

I am frantic with worry.... I can't talk to him, haven't seen him since court sentencing but no communication with him there... wtf????

Then it seemed like an eternity until I heard from him again.  A letter arrived... a sigh of relief was heard across the land... that is, until, I opened up the letter and saw the contents...

Stay tuned, more to come...


#IHateHeroin #WarOnDrugs #HeroinKills #HeroinKillsMoreThanTheAddict #HeroinRuinsLives #prisonlife #crimedoesntpay #crime #criminal #drugskill #heroinekills #ihateheroin #prison #statecorrectionalfacility #pastatecorrectionalfacility #ilovemyson #shithappens

Another Life Lesson Begins Tomorrow... Hasn't Happened Just Yet :(

My son was moved before I could get to visit him at the first location.  He's now in a facility where they will assess and assign him to a home prison.

Luckily I got a letter telling me he was going to be moved.  So I didn't visit.

Here's his home since June 26th... lovely right?

I read a 3 part article about the inside of this facility that was written in April of this year.  There were many pictures and the reporter wrote about what type of assessments are done and what happens to inmates as they go through the system.

From the article, depending upon the assessment, they are usually assigned to their 'home' prison in 2 or 3 weeks....

As far as I know, he's still there.

I send emails to him, trying to provide positive thoughts for him to contemplate as well as the mundane events of my life outside his walls... so far, he's only handwritten me back.  Not sure if he will be able to email me or not.

So, I have learned more about the process, just not visitation at a State Correctional Institution... at least, not yet.

More to come as this journey is traveled...

#IHateHeroin #WarOnDrugs #HeroinKills #HeroinKillsMoreThanTheAddict #HeroinRuinsLives #prisonlife #crimedoesntpay #crime #criminal #drugskill #heroinekills #ihateheroin #prison #statecorrectionalfacility #pastatecorrectionalfacility #ilovemyson #shithappens

Another Life Lesson Begins Tomorrow

I consider myself a life-long learner, or student so to speak.  I like to learn new things.  Some of the things I have had the chance to learn are NOT what I would choose to learn, but rather the result of life's relentless sense of humor towards me.  

One of those lessons was how the county penal system works and all the BS and inefficiencies that can be found there.  Really, wtf? If they were any other business, they'd be fired or go out of business... but that's right, we're talking about the jails in America... there's not shortage of patrons to these facilities so it matters not just how good or bad they are... they are needed and are run horribly.

Well tomorrow, I get to learn a new thing... how the state system of correctional facilities operates... and boy, oh boy, am I super excited to learn... NOT!  But I want to visit my son, I missed seeing him before he was sent 'upstate' at the county facility because of the Carters,Edisons and Einsteins employed by them!

I have done research on various posts over the years on what I can expect.  Thank goodness others have shared this information for us 'newbies' to gather and prepare... if I went there blindly, I'd be so much more upset.  There's no information online that tells you the ins and outs of the process and what to expect.

Believe me, I hope to go with an open mind... at least my expectations are not set too high... Oh and his next stint at the next facility in a few months will be one heck of a joyride too! Can you hear the sarcasm in my typing?

More to come... or not!  Depends on how I do.  

Just a prayer for me to be able to overcome being too upset seeing him in his new environment... please.  Wish me luck.

Tootles Dahlings
~M

Dahlings... UPDATE... I received another letter from the cellie himself just in time to let me know that no visitors until after July 4th... he's sequestered for 30 days... so THIS life lesson isn't happening today... but maybe later in the summer when I can.

#prisonlife #crimedoesntpay #crime #criminal #drugskill #heroinekills #ihateheroin #prison #statecorrectionalfacility #pastatecorrectionalfacility #ilovemyson #shithappens

Heroin Kills Period... Continued

Wasn't she a beautiful person? 

Crystal was revived and placed on life support with the dimmest of prognosis.  Her chances of pulling through were slim.

10 days she remained on life support,
10 days of agonizing pain and sadness.
10 days of nightmares, reliving the odd circumstances that transpired that fateful evening.
10 days of visiting the CICU to talk aloud to her lifeless body, as the machine pumped oxygen into her lungs.
10 long, exhausting, sad days.

During this time, I found myself wondering if I was having a nightmare and would awaken.  Sooooo much transpired and sooo much was found out... I felt like I was living an episode of the Showtime series Shameless.

This world of drugs and addicts was so far away from the life I lead.

We found out from the hospital that Crystal had been to the same ER on the day before New Year's Eve.  Apparently she was having a hard time breathing after doing heroin and she came to the ER, where they administered Narcan and once she felt better and could breathe again, she signed herself out, to their dismay.  Her mother figured out that that day, December 30, was the day she got out of rehab...  so this poor young lady had been in rehab in December too, got out and used then too.

OMG, same pattern but this time, was different. How horrifying this was to me, I had no idea and to the best of my knowledge, based on her mother's, brother's and my son's reaction they did not know about that ER visit.

Let me back track a bit.... to when my son and I were in the CICU waiting room... we were there before her mother and brother arrived.  I never met them but my son had.  From what Crystal had told me, she did not get along with either of them.  Her mother was an alcoholic and brother was in trouble with the law, he had been arrested for having a portable meth lab in his car.

First thing the mother said to my son was, We don't blame you, so you can tell us the truth, were you using with her?  The only people to blame for this is her, her father and me.

One of the conversations I had in the waiting room with the brother was how he didn't understand why she did stuff until she passed out... he didn't like to get high and pass out, instead he like to get high and just chill.  He never partied with her but he knew she would get to the point where she passed out.

Another one of the conversations went along the lines of me saying that in the short time I knew her, I found her to be very caring, sweet and personable... to which her brother replied, that's because she didn't know you.. if she did, she'd be a real bitch and fight with you.

Mind you, these were some of the conversations we had while waiting to be able to go back and see her... I honestly thought I was on an episode of SHAMELESS with William H. Macy... her family life was so dysfuntional, no wonder this child had issues.

On the 10th day, her parents made the sad decision to remove her from life support and once the ventilator was removed, she passed on peacefully.

More to come in another post.

#IHateHeroin #WarOnDrugs #HeroinKills #HeroinKillsMoreThanTheAddict #HeroinRuinsLives