A Carswell Shower

I'm not sure what occurs that makes it happen, but every so often, I am right back there at Carswell and it's as if Scotty has beamed me suddenly. It happened during my shower. It should have been a quick in/out shower, but instead I was in One South during the holidays of 2013, The Grinch who Stole Christmas was our Theme. My roommate hadn't been busted for drugs yet. South and Lola were my constant companions. We were all so lonely for our families and friends. Thanksgiving without our loved ones was the pain we tried to hide.

South is home and I pray is happy and once again surrounded by family. Lola is still at prison camp, but at least she's not behind the fences. Taz has a couple holiday seasons to go. I hope this is Mama's last, maybe Glitter's too. Nurse is closer to home, in California at a camp (or at least I think she is). I am not sure if Cali was close behind her or is still waiting. Chi will be at the camp for several years yet. I wonder what the holidays are like at the camps. Red is home with her babies. Freckles is at the halfway house, but will be on home confinement before the end of the year. I'm so glad she gets to spend her holidays with her husband. 

For those still behind the fence, their creative minds are running rampant right now trying to come up with a great unit theme. The bragging rights for being the best decorated unit is huge! The creative talent is unbelievable. I was explaining to our niece this weekend that I think so many of the women get mixed up with drugs and illegal activity because they are brilliant creative artists, but cannot learn traditionally in school and fall through the cracks. To survive, some end up on the streets and make choices that result in illegal activities. Their art, though, is incredible. I saw people create things in five minutes with subpar supplies that top art students couldn't do in weeks. Its not just one person, either, so many of them!

Not sure why all these things came to my mind in what was to be a quick shower, but I immediately knew that I need to make sure that my friends know that someone cares about them during the holidays. I may not be allowed to write or email, but they are allowed to receive books from Amazon. Perhaps a shipment of books will be finding their ways into the hands of some of the people I care about over the next couple months. They may never know they are from me, but they will know that they are not alone for the holidays!