The news isn't always good

Our daughter-in-law received an early Christmas present this year. She learned this week that a dreaded lump was benign. All of us thanked God.

But the reality is that a number of other people received news that wasn't as good, on the same day.

I was reminded of that today. I was thinking of Missy's good news, as I was FAXing out medical reports to two of the fine physicians who work behind the scenes for HFP.

One prisoner is terribly ill, but death isn't threatening. Maybe somedays he wishes it would hurry, as he suffers with some very unpleasant symptoms. Among other things, he has Hep C and he's going to need a transplant if he's going to survive. And so we're getting the machine fired up. You see, he can't have a transplant while in prison. He's really in on a non-serious charge and he has been in longer than his early release date. Why the state insists on keeping prisoners like this boggles the mind. He's got a great behavior record, the charge did not involve violence, he's been in longer than the minimum sentence, and he's very sick, so he's costing us a lot of money. I forwarded his first documents to a doctor so that we can work on the next phase.

The second prisoner has has received his death sentence. In his case, we'll be trying to obtain a release from prison on medical grounds so that he can die at home surrounded by love and loved ones. He has terminal cancer.

We are blessed to have the finest medical practitioners I know serving at our side to help these prisoners. They get it. They understand completely the depth of the meaning of their oath.

Yet, in both of these situations, there is nothing to give us optimism that we will be successful. But, we must keep the spirits of these inmates up. After all, 'tis the season to be jolly. If only all of our very sick prisoners could receive the glad tidings that Missy did.

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