Heartbreak Hotel, Part Two
Prisoner advocates routinely hear stories of heartbreak. I guess that's why it is such a thrill when we hear a good story.
My friend Big Ben shared such a story with me over the weekend.
He politely asked about my health and my condition first in his weekly telephone call. But then he allowed that he had some good news to pass along. I was all ears.
As a matter of background he explained that he was a renegade with little regard for the law as a kid, and it soon got him into trouble. At age 22 he was sent to prison for life, and his pending plans for marriage had to be abandoned.
He'll be 60 this summer, so that will give you an idea how long he has been in prison.
He fell in love as a young man, but lost track of his woman after he went to prison. The early years of his life had been spent on the east coast, and he is in prison here in Michigan.
Last week, he learned from the friend of a friend that his girl friend of yesteryear was not only alive, but was single again. She is 64 years of age.
He cautiously proceeded, asking his friends to ask if she might be interested in talking to him.
She was, and they did!
He said they talked and they talked. And here's the thing that excites Big Ben the most: After all these years, she's just as crazy about me as I am about her!
Concluded Big Ben: "God is good."
By then I had tears in my eyes, and I could only echo his sentiment.
You are absolutely right, Big Ben. God is good.
My friend Big Ben shared such a story with me over the weekend.
He politely asked about my health and my condition first in his weekly telephone call. But then he allowed that he had some good news to pass along. I was all ears.
As a matter of background he explained that he was a renegade with little regard for the law as a kid, and it soon got him into trouble. At age 22 he was sent to prison for life, and his pending plans for marriage had to be abandoned.
He'll be 60 this summer, so that will give you an idea how long he has been in prison.
He fell in love as a young man, but lost track of his woman after he went to prison. The early years of his life had been spent on the east coast, and he is in prison here in Michigan.
Last week, he learned from the friend of a friend that his girl friend of yesteryear was not only alive, but was single again. She is 64 years of age.
He cautiously proceeded, asking his friends to ask if she might be interested in talking to him.
She was, and they did!
He said they talked and they talked. And here's the thing that excites Big Ben the most: After all these years, she's just as crazy about me as I am about her!
Concluded Big Ben: "God is good."
By then I had tears in my eyes, and I could only echo his sentiment.
You are absolutely right, Big Ben. God is good.
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