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Have you ever visited the women in the county jail? Every Thursday for 8 years from 6 P.M. to 7 P.M. I went to jail to carry a message to the women.

The message You don't have to live this way is you don't want to.

I and the women that went with me were prepared to help as best we could should anyone want to change their lives. The sad truth was, few did. They were expected to help themselves. Handouts were never considered. Yes, there were many that got out and for a little while, tried to do different, but before long they went back to the old places, the old friends and the old ways of life. We allowed them the right of choice and greeted them warmly the next time we saw them in jail! I made many friends there. Some would "pull chains" and go off to the penitentiary. They would ask if we would be there when they came back. Yes, we were there.

Hilarious moments

There were a range of emotions because we women are like that. We laughed a lot; I insisted on it. Some moments were hilariously funny. One such moment was the pretty little blond girl saying "I would not have stabbed him in the back if he had not stopped running!" Obviously she was closer than he thought. (He was not badly hurt.) There was the woman furious with her husband because he had called the police on her as she was threatening him with a loaded gun. It was a BB gun! He then stuffed her in a garbage can and held the lid down until the police came. She was going to hurt him when she got out! We were howling with laughter, but she was not laughing. I feared for his safety. It was always some else's fault they were there.

There were few tense moments. Trouble makers were not allowed to the meetings and the girls took care of their own, handily.

Following the rules

We followed all the jail rules. You could take almost nothing in with you and absolutely nothing out, especially notes or messages. We took appropriate pamphlets (less the staples) and sometimes colors and coloring books on special occasions. Their most prized possessions? String and pencils which they were not supposed to have. String can be used to obtain contraband from outside windows and over walls and pencils can be a weapon. They wanted string to make jewelry and obtained the string from unraveling socks, mostly.

A prized possession of mine is a hand-made string Cross necklace one of the women made for us as a Christmas gift. The base is foil gum wrappers covered in magenta colored string, stained from a crayola. She had made one for each of us. I cried. It still brings tears to my eyes. That particular woman lives in a nearby town and I talk to her from time to time. She has changed her life and is doing well. The Bible asks "What is one soul worth?" A lot. I am sure there are others I never see. I remember them.

I no longer visit the jail. It is time for someone else to go and benefit. Words cannot express the good feelings I have from my visits. The women in the county jail helped me more than I ever helped them.

Learn more about this author, Sadie Kay.
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