Interesting Turn

I think Monty has discovered that I canceled my phone account. He asked in his last letter if he was paying for his calls to me (as they would come out of his account if I don't have one, I guess). I haven't had a chance to reply to his letter yet, but I'm sure he'll understand that I had a need for that tiny extra bit of cash that was just sitting there for two months.

I mentioned last time that I've also been writing to someone that Monty met on the transfer journey from DC to Texas. Monty describes him getting my letters like that scene in Harry Potter #1 when Ron tells Harry he has Christmas presents and Harry's face lights up as he exclaims "I've got presents?!" I hope it helps.

I'm going to call him Guy. I have no idea what Guy did to land himself where he is, and I have no intention on asking. I think somewhere I have learned that everyone is deserving of forgiveness and a chance to get better, even if they are deplorable people who have committed unforgivable crimes. It's an odd place to find myself, really. But I think the only person who is not deserving of compassion is the one who does not see that he (or she) did wrong and is not trying to get better. Truly, I don't really know how much Guy knows he did wrong or how much he really is trying to heal. Monty found compassion for him, though, and that's quite a nice recommendation in my book- knowing what I know of Monty and how he is to the people he associates with (ex-wives notwithstanding).

My mother warned me to be careful of writing to Guy and I understand where she's coming from. For all I know, Guy will be released in a year and come looking for me for one reason or another. I've decided the best thing to do is be honest. That way he'll have no reason to get any ideas, or at least, not much of a reason. For example, he spoke of his ex-girlfriend in his last letter, so I talked a bit about my boyfriend. I mentioned my Etsy business in my first letter, he told me he liked to draw, so we talk about art sometimes.

It seems like it was the right thing to do to start writing to him too. I'm not as afraid of being penpals with a stranger who is incarcerated as I might have been a few years ago. Maybe when he is released he will have healed and grown and maybe that will happen because some stranger found some compassion in her heart for him too.