My wife Sherry just left, we had a wonderful 2 and 1/2 hour visit, we spoke a little about some of the veryday things that need our attention in the house, some money issue and then how much we missed each other and how the time wasn't passing fast enough. This is the second visit this month for Sherry, and this one easier than the first. I suspect that each visit after will be easier for her and for me too. The visit is great, but it also is a reminder of all the things that are missing from my life and I'm sure it must be similar for her. She wants to know how things are here in Camp and I make light of the day to day life, not really telling her what truly goes on here. I pepper our visit with humor and recount silly interactions between myself and othe inmates and my interaction with Camp Fed staff. She, I'm sure doesn't tell me about how she really feels and how hard it is on her, sparing me the details. So here we are both trying to buck the other up and really knowing that it's a front for each other. The whole visit is really a melancholy dance with a great undertow of feelings.
We have to remember that this prison sentence is not wholly on the prisoner, but it equally or sometimes, more so, effects our spouses, children and family.
