From Dragonfly: Happy Birthday South

On Sunday, South advanced a year and I had only learned that her birthday was coming up 3 days prior. She was being very secretive. So, the minute I knew, I had to get into organizer mode. We had to ensure South had a great birthday. I talked with Appeal, Mama, Lola, and others, and we planned out a menu. Then, I started working on making a crochet bookmark, with ribbon, for a gift. Thankfully, Lola and I had all the supplies necessary. No one could go to commissary last week (it was closed), so we couldn't purchase any needs. The hardest part was the cake... I required puddings, lemon juice, creme cheese, chocolate cookies, candy, and a whole creamer. Working together, we were all able to get the ingredients (sometimes promising our next born in return - ha). Plus, we needed someone who was a talented cheese cake maker - that is my co-worker, Style. Style achieves such success with cheesecakes here, that I've tasted nothing that comes even close to it. We scheduled meeting Freckles outside (so we could all eat together) at 1pm. So, everything was set up... we just had to wait for Sunday.

I started Sunday by hanging some paper balloons outside South's room. The balloons also had her name on them. She started getting "happy birthdays" immediately. Next, Lola and Mama did their best to take the birthday card we made around the entire unit to get all those who love South to sign it. There wasn't a bit of space left after everyone signed. Doing all this without South seeing, was the hardest part! Then, we started cooking our meal: ham, cheesy rice, and cheese wraps; macaroni and cheese; pretzels; and the cheesecake (which was already sitting on ice in Style's Unit). She handed it over to us around noon, and we used a large bucket to place it back on ice. No refrigerator means we HAVE to improvise.

It was FREEZING outside, so joining up with Freckles became impossible, but we did meet her outside and she gave South a huge hug and got some wraps and cheesecake. She started eating the cheesecake first - wouldn't we all!?!?! Well, actually, we ate the wraps first. It was the first time we made the ham wraps. As Lola puts it, "all the food here tastes the same." It really doesn't matter if we are making ham, chicken, or using any other available protein, they are all mixed the same way, with the same available condiments, and they do all taste the same.

Once lunch was over, we gave South her card and bookmark. She was overwhelmed. When we also served the cheesecake, she admitted to us that she never has a special birthday cake - in fact, it was only her second birthday cake that she knows of. Since her birthday is so close to Christmas, she always had to celebrate her birthday with family during Christmas. I know her well enough to know that she'd be the first person to say, "no, I don't need a special party...". She's just that way. So, our little gathering, card, and cake put tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe how many people signed her card. She LOVED the cake, which we finished up that night after dinner. She kept the card and the balloons from the wall outside her room, and put them in her items to bring home. From what I could tell, she had a good birthday - despite where we are.

Speaking of birthdays, yesterday was my mom's birthday. I tried calling her a couple times, when the phones were available, but she was probably out with my step-dad and her friends. It is likely the first birthday I've not reached her, ever. That's the thing about prison, sometimes, we can't talk to our loved ones when we want to. I know I will reach her soon, plus I did talk to her on Sunday, so that is something. But, missing family members' birthdays is definitely one of the hard things about being incarcerated.

I'm just going to close this by wishing you a Happy New Years. It does not feel like a holiday today, but tomorrow, I will have the wonderful joy of having a good friend visit. What a great way to start off a new year!!!!