1 Year out !

Tomorrow, Oct 2 marks the day you got out of prison a year ago.
I can't believe its been a year already.
You have done a great job living a normal life .
You have worked hard, you basically have been working 5 days a week since the
second week you have been out, you showed up on your own in Philly court to face an old warrant
and took care of that.
It has been wonderful having my son back.......4 yrs was tough.
Keep up the great work, Jared. I am very proud of you.

Today is your 29th Birthday !

And after missing the last 4 I am so happy that I can bake a cake, have you blow out your candles and wish you a Happy Birthday.
Your last year has probably been the most normal year of your adult life. On Oct 2 you were released from Prison, almost a year ago. In a years time you showed up in court several times to handle an old warrant and it got resolved . No charges or warrants, no parole . You are under no hold in any courtroom in any state. You have been working at the same job since 2 weeks after you got out and handling your money very well. Paying your phone bill on time, getting your weekly transpass for work commute, personal items, clothes and paying me 50 a week . You have shown incredible responsibility. I am secure now knowing you will be fine, you are one of those who will make it.

So today, you are working and I will bake you a cake and put up some decorations and when you come home we will sing Happy Birthday and you can open your presents.

It will mean a lot. Not being able to wish you a Happy Birthday for 4 years was hard.
The day was like any other day, it came and went, it came and went, it came and went, it came and went .

Now you are home, free.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED !
Love,
Mom

Here is my son at his work place Christmas Party

In one way its like he was never gone

My son has been out of prison since Oct 2, a little over 3 months now and is doing great. He has been working 5 days a week since 2 weeks after release, he works hard, makes money, opened a bank account, bought a smart phone and pays the bill.  He sleeps and eats good, he is living a normal life.
His behavior is outstanding.
It's like he was never gone.
But I am glad he is home.

Last Night, New Years Eve

I thought my son would come home from work early and by 7 pm I felt like something was wrong. He came in after, he was talking a lot. After 3 minutes I asked him if he had a drink. He said yes. He had stopped for a drink. Then he asked if he could go to Penns Landing to watch the fireworks, kept telling me it was his first New Years in 3 and half years . I kept telling him I would prefer he stayed home with his family, that it was too risky going out, that crazy people are out there, that he doesn't need to go to Penns Landing. He kept trying to talk me into letting him go. So then I said ' How MANY drinks'? His persistence and talkativeness told me whatever he had was more than 1..............so, he confesses'  3........He says .......then a bottle. I said 'Wonderful'........ You had a bottle and now you want to go to Penns Landing? After 30 minutes of trying to change my mind, I said ' Go' ...........and if anything happens I will LOSE IT. And if you wind up in prison, I couldn't take it again. ( I over react and am quite into the drama but I worry). I told him my goal is to make sure you make it.......that you don't go ever go back to prison.  Then he gets sick. Throw up sick! To the bathroom, he comes down looking like hell. He said he wasn't use to drinking, I said 'No kidding'. He said' You are right, I don't need to go out' then it was back to the bathroom, again and again. Finally he tries to go to bed and I hear him throwing up. I ran up stairs and almost puked myself looking at it. I said 'Sorry but you are going to have to clean it up, I couldn't even be in the same room so he did and then finally went to sleep. During this event, my 17 yr old twins are swearing never to drink ( they never even tasted alcohol  yet but what they witnessed last night was ENOUGH.). So today my son says it wasn't worth it. I said if you want a few drinks every now and then, you get 2.......not a damn bottle. Great News Year Eve!

I am so proud of my son.

My son has been out of prison since early October and has been working 5 days a week for about 2 months now having to get up 4:30am to leave by 5:30 to travel by public transit for 3 hours, work from 8-4 and travel 3 hours back. He has done wonderful and never complains. He has been doing great, he is calm, has his manners and is very helpful. The 3 and half years in prison doesn't seem to have had any affect on him at all. He is home, that is what matters the most. We didn't have the Thanksgiving and Christmas I had wanted because I am financially strapped right now but he is free and we were all together as a family and that is what mattered the most.

Home now for 1 month already

One would never know my son spent almost 4 yrs in prison, there are no after affects at all. Here I was worried if he was going to be nervous, have his back against the wall and be paranoid in new situations.
None of it. He is calm and peaceful. No anger issues, no temper . He made it through his first week of work taking 30 some buses in strange areas he has never been with just simple written directions from me on a piece of paper.
There is hope for all felons.......my son said he wasn't in one fight because he stayed to himself. He wrote in journals and read and slept and exercised and took part in every thing the prison had to offer. He utilized his time wisely and even got his GED.
If anyone passing by has a loved one in prison tell them to keep busy. Tell them to take advantage of every program.
Having a poor me, life sucks attitude only makes it worse.
I am just happy he is home in a safe place, just playing a game he found on my laptop or watching movies.....simple stuff, quiet stuff.

You got a Job!

Congradulations!
Sent out emails to various help organizations and got some positive replies.
 My son went to this place that hires ex felons on Friday and he started the job on Monday. From 8-4 Mon thru Fri, its min wage but thats okay. He has a JOB!
In a month he has turned himself in on outstanding bench warrant, spent the night in jail until it was lifted the next morning, he has a new court date for failure to appear on that old legal matter and now has a job . It can happen. Just have to be on it constantly and really pursue.
Now I am trying to find a room for rent for him so he can commute easily to and from work.

Ongoing but maybe over soon............another court hearing

I must say the Philly court system is whacked out. First my son turned himself in on a 2006 warrant. At first he had some trouble getting the police to hold him. So they finally cuff him and put him in a holding cell for the night. They take him to bench warrant court 12:30 pm the following day, the bench warrant is dropped but they take him up to Curran Fromhold Prison on the Failure to appear charge, he is a holding cell with 30 some other dudes getting processed. I get a call a few hours later from him in the Social services office at 5:15 telling me he was going to be discharged later in the evening. First they tell me to call back at 8 pm, they told me he was going to be discharged 4-6 hours from that time, that he wasn't processed yet. So from then on it was guess work, will he arrive in Center City 1:am, 2 am or later and how and when do I get there and where the hell is going to be if he doesn't have a dime or a cell phone and gets no more phone calls. So when I was on the phone at 5:15 pm I quickly said., meet me at the Greyhound terminal and stay there until you see me.....then I wondered if he heard that or even knew how to get there.
So he arrives at 12:45 am .He was escorted all the way up to the prison from court, was in a holding cell for 6 hours, saw 3 fights between cops and dudes, had 2 baloney sandwiches for lunch and the same for dinner and then he is released. Why in the hell did they go through all of that just to release him ? Makes zero sense to me.

Bench warrant

Well, my son has been out of prison for about 10 days now, he is calm and seems to suffer no ill effects from prison life .He watches TV, fools around on the computer and sleeps and eats well. I would never have known he was in prison for 3 and half yrs because he seems totally okay .

 This morning we headed into Philly so he could turn himself in on a 2006 bench warrant for FTA on a small possession of marijuana charge . In order to proceed with as normal as a life possible he had to get this done so I cried as I say goodbye when the handcuffs went on and he could spend anywhere from 3 to 30 Days in a Philly county jail and then be given a court date to answer to the Failure to Appear charge. Bench warrant is now gone, once he gets out he can live normally while awaiting his court date. I wish this was all over. I am so sick of courts, judges and the whole mess.

9:30 AM You are 8 hours away !

I am just sitting here, nervous, excited and restless to leave to go meet my son at the bus depot. I leave at 1:00 pm, have to take 4 different buses to get into Center City Philly. I am so happy this is over. I can't wait to see my son.

You are Free !

I signed up for VINE that is really meant to notify victims so they can keep tabs where the person who they had problems with . VINE has been very helpful in locating my son as soon as he was transferred somewhere else, I didn't have to wait until I got a letter from him.

Just got this message, one last message .

The inmate for whom you registered, JARED xxxxxxxx with offender number xxxxxxx 
is no longer in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections as of 
10/2/2014.

You are free Jared on your way to the bus depot. 

5 Hours to go !

Well,Jared this is the day .

You will probably be leaving the prison by 12:30 for the hours drive
to the bus terminal.

By 2:00 pm you will be getting on a bus for a 27 hour ride home.

Tomorrow around 6 pm I will see you, finally after 4 years.
I am so excited, I just can't believe it .It's over, well almost.

I have missed you so much.

Today

If everything goes as planned today is your last day in prison.
I am a nervous wreck. The classification officer is supposed to call me today to give me details. I just want to know you are in the clear to come back to PA.

4 More days to release !

Just tonight and 3 more nights in prison until you get on a bus to begin your journey home.   

7 More Days

This time next week you will be getting out of prison and on your way back to PA. to be with your family and start living.
I am both excited and worried.
I cannot wait to see you get off the bus, I will be so happy to finally see you after 4 long years.
I am worried how difficult it might be to find a job with a record.
Any job will do at first to get your foot in the door. You need to prove to future employers you can handle a job and remain out of trouble.
I found a Church that I think you will like........looking into self help groups and other resources.
The time is now to make it out here. I love you and want you to have a normal life.

Happy Birthday Jared

Your last birthday in prison..............

I  haven't seen my son since June 2010,he has been in prison since March 2011 and his birthday & Holidays have been difficult. He comes home in 24 days! 
Wishing my son peace, strength, faith, courage and joy throughout this year.
Happy Birthday Jared. 
Always your mom no matter what, I love you .

It's almost over

My son has been in prison for 3 1/2 yrs, I haven't seen him in 4 years  and he will be released Oct 2 nd. In less than 35 days I will see him getting off the bus and bringing him home.
I can't wait to see him and just hug him and have him here to reconnect and help him towards a new life.
I have been buying him things he will need like clothes, toiletries and will be getting him a pair of boots because he has nothing left and his belongings are the house in Florida where he got in trouble.
I am just scared he is going to have a problem getting a job due to felonies against him. He needs to be productive, he needs a lot of luck.
It will be so nice having him sleep in a calm, quiet safe place and to be able to eat real food and take showers privately, things he has been unable to do for the last few years and wear real clothes instead of a prison uniform.
This Thanksgiving and Christmas will be the best ever with all of us together. The last few have been difficult. It's been pretty impossible feeling the Christmas spirit when you know your son is in prison.
I am glad this is almost over, I just can't wait to see him.

Just me,your mom