Good news/bad news


I’ve always been one to pick the good news.

As a broadcast journalist, I did my best to cover the bloody stories, the tragedies, the disasters, as well as the crimes and the crap. But I loved the good stories: tales of kind and generous people; and I loved the funny stories, the happy stories that brought smiles to the faces of my listeners.

Decades later, as I work with our team to help prisoners, I still opt for good news. So, it was a great day this week when I received an email from Adam, who had been in prison since 1993, saying, “I’m out! I’ll meet you for lunch!” That same day I stopped at the post office to pick up the mail, and spotted an unusual envelope. Opening it, I discovered a check from an anonymous donor for $25,000.00! Our bills would get covered this month!

I drove to the office, stepped through the front door with all of this good news, and Melissa interrupted me: “Doug, it’s Allen on the phone.”

Reality came crashing in.

I had chatted with Allen’s mother by telephone just an hour earlier. Her son, only 33 years of age, is in prison. A year ago, doctors discovered cancer behind his eye. The eye was removed, and part of his face, from the way it sounds. “They got it all,” she and her son were told. Not so. It’s back, it’s everywhere, and it’s not good.

Some might say that his mother is quick to blame the system. Not adequate treatment, not enough treatment, too little, too late. I think she’s right, but there’s no one who can or will do anything about it. These are poor black people, and he’s behind bars.

I took the telephone from Melissa. My heart broke as Allen tried explain his situation to me. His face is so deformed from surgery that he can’t speak very well. He’s in pain. He may have six months.

He and his mother want only one thing: they’d like him to be out of prison for his final days. That’s a huge challenge for HFP. Compassionate releases are difficult to obtain. Those who have read my book SWEET FREEDOM understand. The state is not quick to release prisoners, even when they’re dying.

I had done my best to reassure Allen’s mother that we would try, but I don’t dare share with her the reality of the situation. I tell her I'll pray for her, and her son. While on the phone, I do my best to comfort and reassure Allen, but I don’t dare share my cynicism, my pessimism.

These aren’t the fun stories, these aren’t the happy stories. These are the real stories,

Pray for Allen. Pray for us.

Comments

Bob Bulten said…
Oh, Doug, my heart is broken about Allen. He’s in my prayers and I’ll try to do more.
January 23, 2020 at 8:47 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w...
Read more

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that ...
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to c...
Read more