Guess who's back?

For those of you who don't know, I am in Seattle again. I got back on September 16th but only told family I was due back at that time. I suprised many friends on the street and at their jobs. I guess I really can't do anything in a 'normal' fashion.

I must say the bus ride up from Portland was quite surreal. I kept thinking that it wasn't really happening, in fact I can still barely believe it. Everything was new again: handeling cash, interacting with the public, the feel of denim jeans and finally, the realization that the public at large has no way of knowing where you've been. You get so used to the uniform and the impression it leaves on civilians when seen in it, that it's hard to remember that you shed that scarlet letter upon exiting the prison.

Anyway, I am in a halfway house until Dec.17th at which time I had better have found a place to live or I'll really be assed out. It's not bad but it has it's negative aspects too. In many ways you have much more freedom in prison, strange as it sounds to say. Difference is, more is excpected of you in here. No one is here to tell you what to do, just to aide in your re-entry into society. Where as in prison you are told what to do, where to be, and when. Some people fail here simply because they have lost or never had the ability to think independently and responsibly and mess up on purpose just to go back to their comfort zone.

I certainly don't fall into that category. I am happy to be back among my family and friends and look forward to closing this chapter of my life. I have learned a lot about myself and who I can rely on when times are tough.

So thank you to everyone for the letters, pictures, books, and support. I can't express enough how much it means to me.