Authorial Magazine - Manila Edition

line to show them her photo I.D and
tell them who she’s visiting, then place
her personal items into a locker and
remove the key. She explains visitors
can only take the locker key and their
quarters into the visiting area. She
didn’t bring any quarters. Should she
have? She asks. Then the kind lady
explains that the quarters are to make
purchases of food or snack items for
the inmates. It was obvious that she
was confused and was told that this
visiting time meant that the inmate
would have to miss lunch. Why wasn’t
she told this information when she
was approved? Now her heart was
totally torn in half. In order to accept
a visit, her beloved son would have
to miss what she understood to be
an already lacking amount of food.
How much worse was this going to
get? The distress was written all over
her face and the compassion of God
lead that same older lady to share her
quarters. She was reluctant to accept
because she knew it would take away
from that woman’s child, but the
lady explained that her son had food
commissary in his cell and would be
able to eat after if he hadn’t already
eaten beforehand. She thanked the
kind lady and promised to repay her.
The visitors were called back to the
visiting area in small numbers as the
ones they had come to see responded
to their visitation call. As she waited
her turn, the ladies chatted and the
older lady explained some of the
questions to avoid when visiting with
others there. Kind of a quick study in
visitor etiquette. This chatting time
helped to set her as ease. When she
was called, she was still nervous but
anxious to see her beloved son. Each
locking door behind her reminded
her of the seriousness of where
she was and what her son must be
experiencing multiple times each
day. When she entered the visiting
room, she was assigned a table, told
to wait there for the inmate and was
reminded that she was only allowed a
brief embrace at the beginning and the
end of the visit, but they could hold
hands across the table. At least there
would be no glass between them like
you see in the movies, she thought.
As she waits, she observes the inmates
coming in and the way they greet
their visitors. She knows what to do,
they are teaching her. Some of these
guys have little children visiting them,
and she can’t help but think about
how hard this had to be for all of
them. There are a set of brothers, one
in and one visiting, there are many
parents visiting sons, and grandparents
visiting grandsons and even sons
visiting fathers. She realizes that none
of them wants thing this way, but all
are making the best of the situation
they find themselves in. As she waits,
her mind is racing back to him as a
precious and precocious little boy,
full of compassion for the elderly,
tenderness in his heart for someone
else that is hurting. She thinks about
all of the health issues that challenged
him as a child and how God brought
him through. She thinks about how
blessed she has felt ever since his birth,
even when he challenged her with his
ideas and adventuresome ways. She
was assured that God had a plan for
him and felt sure this was not what
he had in mind. But she also knew
that her God was able to use even
this for his good although she didn’t
herself understand how. The thing
that serves to hold her together and
give her hope for the future is that
Jesus Christ loved all enough to die
for them. All being the key, every
single person here is loved by Jesus.
She looks up and with tears in her
eyes, sees the face that she has longed
to see and is grateful that he looks
well. When he smiles at her, her heart
melts and where they are seems less
important, they are together. They
spend the small amount of time they
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have together playing dominos and
talking. She shares with him about
the quarters and her concern that she
doesn’t have enough to fill his tummy,
but he assures that whatever he gets
will be sufficient and apologizes for
not having fully prepared her. The visit
is too short in both of their opinions
and he continually apologizes that
she should even have to be here at
all. They kiss goodbye and promise
each other prayers. She promises that
she will come back and they agree
he can call once a week, they set a
day and time.
As she leaves the visiting area, she
gathers her ID and her personal
belongings and heads to her car to
leave. Her mind is reeling. She had so
many misconceptions about people
in prison and the people who visit
them. The compassion of the Lord
overcomes her and she realizes that
the same pain she felt during this visit
must surely be felt by her heavenly
Father when any of his children are
dealing with the consequences of
their bad choices. She knows this is
not what he intended for any of them
and his heart must nearly break in half
as he watches the needless suffering
they go through.
Many years have passed since this
horrible day in their lives. He finally
got his life back on track with God’s
help and now enjoys being with his
children and his family. He holds a
full time job and makes a positive
contribution to his community and
has even become a grandfather. But
she will always remember that one
day and the impact it had on her life.
She hopes that others who shared
that day have also been blessed with
restoration in their families.
AUTHORS PRESS