July passed in the blink of an eye. Although we enjoyed the visits of family and friends, the month brought with it hopes and expectations that were dashed by the prison administration.

This was to be the month, finally, that Corey hoped to transfer closer to our home state of Washington, to a minimum security Camp at Sheridan, Oregon, after over 7 years here in southern California, for the final few years of his encarceration. The Bureau of Prisons states in its policies they will always try to place an inmate within 500 miles of his home(Corey was placed 15 HUNDRED miles from his home) - you know, because they also claim to believe how important it is for an inmates morale to place him close to supportive family and friends. Of course they also post propoganda like “Preparing prisoners for successful re-entry” and “Bionics” - BOP shorthand for “Believe it or not we care” (seriously??!), on their prison walls, but hopeful and anticipatory as we allowed ourselves to be, we’re not stupid, so plan B was GOI - “get over it” when it fell through. Most of Murphy’s Laws apply to this draconian world and I‘ve become familiar with so many of them..."If something can go wrong, it will go wrong"..."if there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong"...or "if you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop"...so apropos.

As I started this post with, the month brought dashed hopes and expectations, Corey will not be transferring to Oregon. Just as he was denied two years ago, the facility found a way to thwart his efforts once again.

Immediately upon digesting the news, pondering it, my wonderful, always optimistic son signed up for another Long Distance Learning class and requested a list of books as it appears he’ll be at this establishment another year for now. Almost without missing a beat, he put old plans to rest, and moved on with new ones.

And Rod and I move forward with our plans, setting our sights to relocating back "home" (somewhere in Washington State we expect) a little further down the road as well. We are just fellow travellers, and adjust our plans as things change, as they can and often do on this journey.


Patience: A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue. ~ Ambrose Bierce