PRISONER EXPRESS

"It'll get greater later" is a term you hear in prison when someone is in a bad spot. Maybe their family has given up on them, friends might have drifted away, or a bit of both. One day you might be in the elite with constant mail and money to spend. The next it's all gone without warning. It takes courage to hold on until the later comes that is greater than the present. For some, incarceration is a downward spiral where darker degrees of desperation await.

No one can keep facing the empty handed mailman without courage. You can feel so alone and uncared for that life seems unworthy of the effort it takes to live it. A kind letter now and then can go a long way toward giving a prisoner a reason to go on. If we cling and seem desperate it's because our need is so great. We sometimes overwhelm the good intentions of the best people.

It takes courage to survive when you are destitute. In Texas there are no paid jobs, only forced labor. To not have money is to live without shampoo, lotion, a radio, maybe a moon pie or a bag of chips, a tee shirt or thermals, decent shoes to wear, a typewriter. If a prisoner seems financially needy, it may well be because he is.

One thing all prisoners have in common is a bit of courage. We all seem to overlook that and put down those that don't have anyone left to provide for them. Blaming the poor for their plight is common. Let's try not to forget the special form of courage it takes to go on getting up in the morning when all you have to look forward to is more of the same. More being lonely. More being broke. More desperate, destitute hours without hope.

One day we all might be walking in their ragged shoes. Let's have the courage to reach out a helping hand to those less fortunate than ourselves in the hope that if we are ever driven down to that desperate level, someone might show us the same mercy.