Today was a novel day - I woke up in time for breakfast at 6:10 am. Handed two instant coffees with sweetener (apparently sugar is not permitted in Morgantown lol) with a glob of oatmeal, warm glazed donut, an orange, and as much skim milk (served in grade school cafeteria cartons from the plastic crates). The moment was nostalgic for me since I have not had milk like this since grade school. This morning might have been the coldest day that I felt in years. It was about 9-10 degrees, but then the sun rose around 7:00 am. The sunrise spectacularly gleamed this campus with welcomed warmth and glee.
When I arrived at Morgantown, every connection to the outside world had been taken from me, except for a few legal papers. I had been stripped naked, both figuratively and literally, of everything and only provided some really basic clothes. How humbling the past week has been without any worldly things! Yet, I have had everything provided for me, clothing, shelter, food, water, a lot of forced socializing, etc. Tomorrow though, I will be able to shop at the store (aka commissary). For the first time I will be able to buy underwear, sweats (Thank you Maria!), razors, soap, shampoo, socks, and shower shoes! My day has been consumed with counting down the hours. I will be awake tomorrow at 5:45 am, waiting in line for what feels like Christmas! Trust me, I am quite excited for tomorrow morning, even if it means waiting in line - heck, I've done 6 hours just to get a newly released iPhone). I am very grateful to everyone, to June (mother-in-law) for the sweet messages of hope and family shenanigans, of course my mom for her endearing support, my sister and brother-in-law, cousins, and of course Drew for being a beacon - thank you all for making the opportunity of an "early Christmas eve" possible - I am quite humbled and grateful (THANK YOU ALL - I will now hopefully be warm and think of all of you as I am)!
In the next few days, I will be detailing some reflections on the surrealism of the situation that I caused and its impact on others, including a misunderstanding in general. It will be a redux of the events that transpired and impacted my decisions and actions that lead me sit behind an archaic computer system in a federal prison.
Lunch today was...Taco Monday! We were served two hard corn tortilla chips with shredded chicken, corn, black beans, and some amazing salsa (I keep raving about it, but it is quite good and I understand it to be homemade). For the past two lunches, I have been sitting with a fellow that was admitted the same day that I was. We started this journey together so we share a lot in common, especially the moments of when we were stripped naked (separately of course). I briefly mentioned him in the Day 1 post, but at least he is a smart guy so we started networking. I know a bit more about the intricacies of the law and its application of what we should be doing, and he knows many of the shortcuts that help us be proactive. It has been comforting to have something familiar. He told me that he wanted to join me for Mass next weekend (he's not even Catholic). He knows all about my situation, and I know his. We keep our personal matters just between us, but he did share that his daughter just told him before he surrendered that she was gay. He was so happy for her and told her that he loved her for who she is! I am glad that he felt comfortable enough to share that moment with me.
Dinner was a delicious spaghetti in a red meat sauce served with two slices of garlic bread and a giant clump of barely flavored spinach (this spinach is exactly what I thought would be served with every meal). Overall, another great dinner and Italian at that.
I spent some time in the law library and met some really fascinating guys, who were all focused on researching the First Step Act, which I had previously mentioned. They were quite excited since they had just figured out a radical formula that reduces time to 40% of the time before being released. I remain skeptical since I have yet to see the brilliance of this system make simple computations. I will write more on a reflection piece on this issue and its implications (teaser: it'll be boring). After a long day, time to finish some reading. Again, thank you all for your wonderful support and even taking the time to read my silly thoughts on this experience. Prayers & love!