"Dear Dad, things around here have be rough since you left. "

That's what a child wrote to his father who is an inmate at prison. I saw the note when I was in the mailroom in Monday and I thought of it again when I saw a four year old and eight year old in the visitation area today. My heart breaks for these children who are growing up with their fathers in prison. I can't even imagine what it is like. I pray that some of these fathers will realize how their mistakes affect their families, and hopefully that will motivate them to never step back in prison again. I am encouraged when I meet inmates like Mr. Cooper who will be getting out in September. I only know more about his situation because I've been able to sit in on meetings between him and Mr. Tiller, a man who helps inmates from Edgecombe County find jobs when they get released. At his first meeting with Mr. Tiller, Mr. Cooper said that he had plans for when he was released so he could stay out of prison because he had a son now and he wanted to be a good example for him. The cynic may say that he's just another inmate with a false story, but I believe him and after meeting with him a few times, Mr. Tiller thinks so too. My boss said that Mr. Cooper changed for the better once he got his GED. Before he took GED classes Mr. Coooper had been reluctant to get an education but once he started passing some tests and building some confidence he was excited to get his GED and apparently was very proud on graduation day. Mr. Tiller met with Mr. Cooper yesterday to fill out some job applications and to find some sort of stable housing for when he gets out. I think the transition services that Mr. Tiller provides is the kind of thing I thought case managers would provide, but case managers mainly work on what the inmate does while in prison. I would really like to someday do what Mr. Tiller is doing because it is directly helping someone get off their feet and giving them a second chance after prison.

Only two more days at Eastern, it's gone by quickly.

I was talking about the kids earlier and my step-mom's cousin, Claire, who is one of the family members that lives in Greenville, told me about a ministry that helps children of inmates. The ministry will be coming to Maury Correctional, a prison down the road from Eastern, this weekend. She said the ministry was started by a woman whose father was in prison when she was growing up. Claire said the focus of it is reconciliation between parents and children and the woman uses her story to help others. The ministry's event is two days, I think, and involves different activities for the children, the fathers and the caregivers of the children and it also involves time between the children and fathers. Now, I've heard a lot about reconciliation the past couple of years, specifically concerning racial reconciliation, and I think it is so cool that someone is actively teaching and helping others to practice reconciliation.