Lost in Florida

Personal Blog

Categories: Prison

Resentencing update

This is a post I have hesitated to make because I feel it could offend friends who were not as lucky or victims who disagree with this (it’s not all of them luckily) but I do want to share that Alan was resentenced to Life Without Parole last month and is now off death row. After 17 years of isolation this is quite an adjustment. He should have more visits and more access to the phone, and he will be able to work (something he is looking forward to). But mostly, as he described to me, it is the first time in his life he is not waiting for death – or rather that death is not waiting for him. It is a strange feeling but something I’m sure he’ll get used to quickly, as will I. I keep the men on the row who didn’t get a chance at a resentening or did not get the same outcome in my thoughts. I’ll never stop fighting against the death penalty, as this was never a personal issue to me, but a moral one since I learned of its existence in my early teens. I do appreciate and love those of you who supported me through my activism, my marriage, and this exhausting trial, to sum up, who stood by my side during difficult battles. I know my choices are not always easy to understand, but my heart is always leading the way. Alan is everything to me, I loved him as soon as I got to know the deep real him. He deserves this second chance.

Categories: Books

May reads

The book brings awareness to the deaf community’s struggles in education (when no access to deaf schools) and shine a loving light on the deaf culture. It is centered around the unfortunate issue of deaf schools being closed down, and the spread pressure for cochlear implants.

 

This was a quick read, the book is hard to put down even though it just makes you soooo angry at the stupidity and cruelty of the men (males) in charge of that society. When they are 16, the girls are sent on exile in the woods for a year to “get rid of their magic(k)” while trying to survive the wild – which involves killing each other – to return to their village pure and ready for marriage (often times to a much older man, that of course they had no say in choosing).
The book does have some problematic developments and miss the true feminist mark but it was fast-paced and suspenseful enough to go through it in a very short time.

 

It’s an autobiography so it’s hard to critique but it was interesting to get to know more about someone you come across to on internet and what their journey was. Laura’s was much darker than I expected.

 

I liked me some Paris location and I was quite into the book, the search, the mystery, but the resolution… It started strong but ended up being disappointing.

Categories: Cards, Prison

The end of physical mail in prisons / how prison wives turn to e-cards

There are few things more important to a prison wife than staying in touch with her husband. But with the recent move to end physical mail in prisons, it’s becoming a little more complicated to write.

As the use of physical mail in prisons continues to decline, prison wives and families are turning to e-mails to stay connected with their loved ones. While some may see this as a positive development, others worry about the lack of touch and intimacy. This is my case and as I really deplore this radical change, however, we now have to deal with it.

There are a number of reasons why e-mailing is not always the preferred method of communication for prison wives. First, holding a paper that contains the handwriting of your loved ones, their smell, is simply irreplaceable.  Secondly, it is increasingly expensive to send e-mails to prisons.
However, many prisons have restrictions on what types of limited mail can be sent to inmates, they go through 3rd party companies… making it more difficult to send letters and cards. There is also the simple fact that most people now communicate electronically, and prison wives, families and pen pals are no different – especially if writing from overseas.

As a cardmaker, it is incredibly frustrating for me that the cards I create – usually with my husband in mind as he is my main inspiration, are cards he will now be unable to see…
Well, or so I thought at first… Because I recently started to send them to him electronically.

E-cards are not my favorites but they offer a number of advantages over traditional mail. They are cheaper to send, and there are less restrictions on what can be sent. In addition, they can be sent instantaneously, which means we prison wives can stay in touch with our loved ones more easily.

So, how can we turn to e-cards? Websites that offer free e-cards – same issue as greeting cards – rarely fit the situation of having an incarcerated husband and/or friend. You might find sites that offers a wide variety of e-cards but they might not respect the JPay, Access Corrections, etc. rules, the format (and so the conditions to go through and not be rejected either by the institutional e-mail provider or the prison staff)  plus you want to be able to find the perfect card, whether it’s funny, romantic, or just a simple hello!

So I am launching my own e-cards! The same way I was hoping to help with my greeting cards (still available and if your loved ones’ facility still accept them, lucky you!) when I started Sweet Undertone, I hope my shop will allow you to find the perfect e-card for your loved one!

 

And for those who don’t want to send a greeting card to a 3rd party shredder but still want to use paper in the facilities the mail is copied and given in paper, I am also launching printable versions of some of my cards:

Categories: Books

April reads

 

I am still playing catch up with my reads but this will be my last delayed post. Hopefully, I will continue more regularly.

In April, I read 4 books on 4 very different topics:

  • An essay on the persistent racial injustice in America.
  • A friend-to-lovers vacation story.
  • A collection of essay about pregnancy, birth, and motherhood .
    A bit hard to relate as most writers have tons of money, which does make a difference in the options you have for your care and baby’s. Be prepared to cry everything you have (especially if you listen to the book as the authors are reading) during Emma Hansen’s essay. It really made me want to read her whole book, “Still: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Motherhood”, I am just not ready to face it at the moment.
  • A “memoir meets masterclass”. We follow the author from aspiring author to professor. Her book is an “exploration of how we think and write about intimate experiences—“a must read for anybody shoving a pen across paper or staring into a screen or a past” (Mary Karr).”

FOLLOW @PENTIONERY