How prison families identify with COVID victims
There's no greater misfortune than dying alone. Gabriel Garcia Marquez Day after day, during this past year of COVID horror, we have been bombarded with tragic stories about being alone. Time and again we heard tearful reports of family members unable to visit ailing and dying loved ones in nursing homes or hospitals. Thousands upon thousands of COVID patients died alone...no one at their bedside to hold hands, say last goodbyes, offer final prayers. Heartbreaking! Experiences like that were new to many of us. We’ve never had a pandemic like this before. But, surprise, surprise. This is nothing new for anyone who has a family member in prison! No, it’s not a virus that causes similar problems. It’s the cold, heartless, impersonal system that’s to blame...and it’s not nice. Our home phone rang the other night. Old feller called me and introduced himself. He had gotten my name and telephone number from a friend of a friend. In this business, the calls, the pleas