It was amazing to see my husband after so long apart. Although we had to be in a visitation room surrounded by a bunch of other people we were talking and joking like old times. There were some small children in there visiting other inmates and I could tell it bothered my husband. He begged me to find a way to bring our son next time. It hurt my heart to leave my husband behind but I was grateful to get back to my son. For some reason he was sleeping 6 hours for my mom...I got 4 last night! Not fair!
I contacted Mr Holland at the USDB and asked what I had to do in order to bring my son to visit. He instructed me to write a letter asking for full contact between my husband and my son. He said he would pass it up and they would review it and decide if my husband could have contact. Of course it's rarely granted unless the prisoner is in treatment but it's a 2-3 year wait list AND you have to pass a lie detector test to enroll. My husband wouldn't be able to pass one since he's innocent and even if they did enroll him...2-3 years! I was adamant about my husband not being a threat and that all contact between him and my son would be monitored. I also included information about the importance of father-son bonding. Hopefully they have a heart (doubtful) and grant us visitation or at least the ability to talk on the phone. Yes, my husband has to get permission to talk to our nearly-2-month-old on the phone...who can't even talk yet! I hate this system. It's so stupid and backwards and drives me nuts. Mr Holland also said that it wasn't a fast process and could take months to get a response. Joy. What else can I expect from the military?
In better news I'm getting more letters for my husband's clemency packet. My friends have really come through and their care and concern is so touching and means so much. I am pretty disappointed with some of my husband's friends. Some of them just outright ignored my request that they write a letter. Oh, I'm sorry if I'm inconveniencing you but this is my life. It takes what, an hour maybe, to write a decent letter? I'm making notes on those useless people and I hope, when this is all over, I can tell them exactly what I think of them. I'm going to a new moms group meeting tomorrow so maybe I'll meet some new people. The only downfall is deciding what to tell people when they ask where my husband is. I tell most people he's at Ft Leavenworth and let them draw their own assumptions.
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