I don’t imagine many people think about being in prison, let alone during Christmas, especially those of us who are in prison. Today being my second holiday in prison, I observed a tone among the guys here as depressingly quiet and bothersome. The outgoing guys are more reserved and the more reserved guys are just silent in their bunk areas. Emails, cards, and phone calls with family members act as a stark reminder that we are in the custody of the federal government – these days are true punishment of being away from loved ones. The past few weeks were quite void of the Christmas Spirit! A historic bomb cyclone or whatever the meteorologists are calling the frigid wintery weather (thank you Tiffany for letting me know this event was happening) made its way through Morgantown. I could only imagine the media’s sensationalizing this snowy coldness, but other than a few inches of snow and very cold wind gusts, the weather seems like an average day in Cleveland during February. The snow does help bring a hint of White Christmas, but for the most part the routine of prison has maintained a boring consistency. A few artificial Christmas trees are found scattered in each of the buildings on campus, but this ends the presence of Christmas here.
However, we were presented an incredible holiday meal (again served at 11:00 am). A roasted Cornish hen served with a wild rice pilaf, a healthy portion of homemade creamy au gratin potatoes (usually potatoes here are from a box), sweet braised cabbage, two slices of whole wheat bread smothered in gravy, and a large slice of freshly baked banana bread! The bread alone was worth the 1/2 mile commute from my dorm to the dining hall! After “dinner” as we left the dining hall, we were presented with a gift! A bag full of several different processed cookies (think: Oreos), peanut butter crackers, different drink mixes (like Tang) for our water bottles, a bag of caramelized popcorn, and a quarter gallon of egg nog to wash down all the sweets (so basically we were served nearly 5,000 calories in one meal). The eggnog was pretty good, and was provided by a local dairy farm. I am happy to see how many guys did perk up with these gifts from Uncle Scrooge…errr Sam, I mean Uncle Sam! We have been treated really well.
As I was reminded of my first night here in prison, when I barely had any clothes to wear and experiencing the coldness of the dorm room, I am entirely grateful for the warmth and stability of my dorm, the comradery among fellow inmates, and the comfort of having a full belly from a well-prepared meal. I expressed my gratitude in prayer during Christmas Mass. Wow, we are fortunate to have a priest who is willing to come out during the cold after having many Masses this weekend, and celebrate another Mass here with us. Today, 25 guys showed up to Mass. Over the past few weeks, there have been about 8-10 guys on average that have been worshipping.
As per tradition in my family, all the aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered for a Christmas Eve dinner. The dinners are always an eventful and celebrated time for our family. My cousins, Wendy and Tom, have recently hosted these dinners for over the past 10+ years. It is a lot of work and preparation, as anyone who hosts 20+ family member dinners knows. My late-grandma (Sue) would often host and prepare some dishes, but one particular dish garnered much attention from any newcomers to a Christmas Eve dinner…kapusta soup. Please Google kapusta for details! As I mentioned to my sister about kapusta, think about taking one of the nastiest vegetables, cabbage, and fermenting it. I am not referring to the delightfully Korean kimchi, but a step-child to it, sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is not entirely that bad from a health standpoint and has many benefits with all its microbiomes/probiotics or whatever makes that stuff somewhat healthy. Yet, sauerkraut by itself is utterly rank (my opinion), but then… to make kapusta soup you cook sauerkraut for hours at a time into a soup – that is kapusta! It is purely awful, actually it’s just an evil substance. The putrid stench of a half-decayed vegetable should warn any human person with a working sense of smell (unless they recently had Covid) to stay away or suffer the consequences.
Now, imagine that you are hosting a dinner party, during a holiday for your loved ones, and someone brings this dish to your house. You will need to fumigate your house or maybe even just torch it after you realize the smell lingers long after the guests depart. Perhaps a daring brave soul decides to try this pot of Satan’s breath and realize they have to use the bathroom almost immediately. So now they have to wait to “go” since every bathroom has a line by those stubborn individuals (you know who are) who simply lie that they love it. Now ghastly aromas of many smells swirl together throughout the house. Your house guests leave but the smell embeds itself in your clothes, the walls, carpet, and any surface it can possess until the next year. In our family, my mom has continued the tradition of making this stuff, which is one reason why I stay at a hotel when I am in Cleveland during Christmas! Yet, this is a family tradition which I dearly miss — especially all the debating about who does and doesn’t like kapusta, and just the gathering of loved ones!
While I do not have a Christmas tree, or my family or friends to celebrate with, I am extremely appreciative for all the love, support, and outreach that I have received over the past few weeks of this journey. The generosity of so many of you have truly warmed my heart to its core. Please remember those who are unhoused, addicted, afflicted, lonely, bereaved, imprisoned, and abandoned, especially children, during this time of year and in this life threatening weather! I am still humbled to celebrate with love, cheer, and joy knowing that my circumstances are merely temporary. Thank you for all your warm wishes and love. I hope you had an amazingly festive Christmas day! Stay healthy, safe, and warm! All my love or positive energy flows to each of you and your families!