Richard will be home in less than 4 months officially! Given our experience with the system, we have learned this is our goal, but anything can happen.
I am starting to get so excited since Richard met with his Parole Officer, has started Anger Management classes, and is now making progress toward his rehabilitation.
It is wild to think Richard has been sitting around, trying to stay busy, while trying to stay out of trouble, while being transferred multiple times and is just now getting enrolled for classes. Imagine that it took over one year and a few months to place him in an offered course.
Richard said that there are a lot of "lifers" or people who will be spending their lives behind bars, who are mostly filling up these classes. Considering these classes also give inmates time off, it doesn't make sense for a majority of these people to even be enrolled in them. I do believe if people want to learn about anger management, they should have the opportunity to do so. But like a college course, you can't continuously retake the same class, otherwise, you will have to pay for it and after a class or two, a counselor would question why you keep retaking the same class.
Not to mention, he had a substitute counselor for the class recently. Richard described him as an old man, who seemed completely out of it. He was there to watch the class and some of the other inmates ended up leading the class to get something out of it. This reminds me of those terrible substitute teachers we had in school when we were younger.
Along the journey, some of the guards have been rude, nitpicky, and demeaning. Correctional guards have had it out for specific inmates, including Richard. While a select few decent human beings had his back, even standing up for him saying " Richard isn't a troublemaker, All he ever does is talk on the phone to his wife".
Prison is such a terrible place that people do whatever they can, to break the boring routine. Otherwise, what is there to do? With the CDCR there is a lot of correction going on but it seems like the system is setting these men up for failure.
Richard already has career, family, and parole plans that are going to be motivation to focus on his marriage and life goals. He is excited to integrate our lives. Richard can finally move on from this experience and put it behind him. He is also welcoming a positive new chapter in our new lives together.
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