My Penpal

About a year ago I found an acquaintance of mine that I had lost touch with. I Googled him and found that since I had last seen him over 3 years ago, he had done something really bad and wound up sentenced to 99 years of hard time in a maximum security penitentiary. When I finally contacted him, we began to pen pal back and forth quite regularly. I can only imagine what it would be like to have to spend the rest of your days in jail, and I know my letters give him great comfort. Since he is incarcerated in Texas, I decided to combine a visit with my brother's family with a visit to him. I phoned the prison a couple months ago to inquire about procedure. I was told that he needed to put me on his approved visitors list. So I wrote him and suggested there was a possibility that I might be in Texas and if he wanted, he should add me to his list. He quickly wrote back saying he would do so immediately. Additionally, he told me he would put me on another list, so that I could inquire about things like transfers, medical conditions, or death. Apparently only his brother is on this list. That was a bit more than I asked for, but it doesn't commit me to anything.

So, I booked my plane ticket to Texas for April. I called back to the prison, to schedule a visit. Since I was flying in, I had been told that we would be allowed a 4 hour visit through a Plexiglas window. Upon calling back today, I was told that his visitor list had not been changed and I was still not on it. I told the woman that I was almost sure that he had put in the request. I heard some tapping of computer keys and she then told me that prisoners are only allowed to modify their visitor list once every 6 months. Apparently he had changed his in January and so I would be unable to be added until July. I explained to her that I had called a month ago and was never told this, and that I had already paid for my flight. She said the only person that could override the rule was the warden and so I asked to be transferred to his office. I explained everything to the warden's secretary who put me on hold, and came back 2 minutes later and wanted to know if I was a relative. I told her I was not. She put me back on hold and 1 minute later told me that nothing could be done.

Now, besides my brothers family, I have a several friends in Texas and was planning to visit them all, so, this won't be a wasted trip for me by any means. But that phone call sure gave me a glimpse into his world. I'm guessing he rarely, if ever, gets visitors. And now he has that chance and someone is willing to get on a plane to see him, but the rules and regulations that he must abide by prevent this from happening.