time flies when you're busy

Yesterday (Friday) went by faster than I expected, but I guess it's because I had a lot to do. My family is currently on vacation, and they'll be swinging by to visit me in Georgia for a few days. Because of this, I'll be taking Monday and Tuesday off next week (we get five days total to take off over the ten weeks of CPE, and I haven't used any of them yet). So, in addition to finding and speaking to all the women I had planned on seeing, I also had to find the women I normally meet with on Mondays and Tuesdays and reschedule times with them.

As soon as the 8:30 count cleared, I headed over to F Building to get a woman whom I had promised a phone call. She recently had a surgery to remove a cancerous lump, and she wanted to let her family know it went all right and she was okay. She had been scheduled to have this surgery for months, but because of the way the medical portion of the prison system works, she wasn't told when she was to have the surgery, just that it could be any time in the next few weeks. So she and her family knew she was going to have the surgery at some point, but they didn't know exactly when or how it would go. She was very happy to be able to talk to some of her family members and tell them the good news, and she also made sure not to be on the phone for too long because she knew I had other women to attend to.

After that, one of the head chaplains found me and asked if I could give a phone call to one of the women she had been scheduled to see. This woman had recently and unexpectedly lost her mother, and she wasn't able to attend the funeral. The chaplain had planned on letting her call her father, but he could only be reached at a specific time, and the chaplain had two other women scheduled back to back over that time. I said I'd be glad to help, and on my way to get the woman, I ran into her on her way over to Programs. She was able to get a hold of her dad, and it was really sad because she was crying, and she said he was crying as well. She said she felt really helpless because she wanted to be there for him, and that he was currently taking care of her kids. She wanted to unburden him since he was going through so much. I assured her that her father knew she would be there if she could, and that the best thing she could do right now was to take care of herself.

I hadn't been to my range in D Building for a few days because of the mid-units and the warden switching ceremony and other things, so I headed there next. I usually visit DA in the afternoon, but I knew I had a few more people to see and might not get to it in time. On my way over, I ran into one of the women I usually see on Tuesdays, so I let her know I was going to be gone and that I'd try to see her on Thursday or Friday of next week. She thanked me for the heads up, and I continued on my way to D Building.

As it turns out, most of the women in DA were sleeping, and those who weren't didn't seem very interested in talking. Since the three women I used to visit regularly down there have all been moved (one to a different range in D, one to a different building and one to a different prison), it just hasn't been as fun to go down there. Sure, there are still women down there who have needs and want to talk, but this day no one wanted to. I talked for a few minutes to the officer on duty in the range, then I headed back to Programs. It was nearly time for lunch and the noon count anyway.

After lunch I went back to F Building to get another women who needed a phone call, and when I got there, I ran into someone else who had been told by one of the head chaplains to let me give her a phone call as well. I told her to come with me and the other woman and wait outside the office for the first woman to make her call.

The first woman was someone who is soon leaving and heading to a Transitional Center. I had helped her make a call to this place so she could do the necessary phone interview. She had been accepted, but she wanted to call back and make sure they would hold her place until she got all her paperwork cleared -- it sometimes takes the prison a long time to process all the paperwork, and she was worried there was a time limit. The woman at the Transitional Center assured her that they would keep her place until she got there. The woman was very relieved and thanked her, and then me for letting her make the call. She left the office, and the other woman came in. I didn't really know her story, but apparently she has a lot of medical things done to her, and whenever one of these happens, she is allowed to update her family. Well, the phone call sounded to me like she was just calling to talk to her dad. Oh well, it was Friday; I didn't really care.

Next I went over to E Building to see one of the women who used to be on my range in D Building. She's the one who told me about the second coming of Christ and that she gets messages from God -- I think I've mentioned her before. Anyway, she's not been happy being placed in E Building, because that's the mental health building, and she's never been mentally ill a day in her life, as she likes to say at least once every time I see her. She's a cute little elderly woman, and I really enjoy talking to her, as crazy as she is. She began this particular conversation by telling me our country is going to head into a depression greater than the one in 1929. She told me I should be stocking up on foods and moving underground. I have no idea what made her start talking about this, but it was entertaining, and she taught me how to cook a hog underground. Yep. Then we argued about Catholics and Lutherans -- she's a Catholic and is convinced only Catholics will go to heaven. It was all in fun, the argument, though I did feel somewhat mad when she told my my calling to be a pastor was not from God, but just a choice I was making (because only men can be priests, of course). I mean, come on, here I am, letting her think I believe she gets messages from God, and she can't even let me have this one tiny calling? Good grief!

By the time I had wrapped up that conversation, it was nearly time for the 4pm count, meaning the day was over. Like I said, it went by quickly, and I hadn't even gotten to all the things I had planned. But overall, it was a very productive day. It will be really nice to have Monday and Tuesday off and spend that time with my family (who I haven't seen since mid-May!), but at the same time, I feel I'll have a lot to catch up on when I return.

The summer is winding down faster than I'd like. I've really been enjoying my time in Georgia so far, and I hope I continue to do so for the remainder of it.