Wednesday, February 12, 2025, and I finally got a chance to sit down and start my journal for the day; it’s 10:19pm. This one will be a quick run through, as today I was non-stop.
I am up early with the noise from the Glasshouse, and am able to go to breakfast to get a banana and a milk carton then over to Education to pick up the books they have for the chapel. I load up six boxes onto a cart and Mr. Kelly helps me wheel them over to the chapel.
All the boxes are unloaded in the chapel, I go through each book and see if any of them have the owners names written on them and I organize each book around my desk.
Back in the unit waiting for lunch, I grab Mr. Rivero’s wheelchair but I see he is already eating at Mr. Campos’ room, so I park the wheelchair back at his room and head to the dining room. I see other guys returning with a tray in hand, so it’s grab-n-go for today and it seems dinner is going to be a bag of cold food.
I head back to the unit, eat my burger with cheese, and potatoes, prepare myself a cafecito and head to the chapel to prepare for the Catholic service. Today we had a Wiccan arrive for his service. I don’t know much about the Wiccan’s besides it being some sort of witchcraft. At 2pm, the Santeria guys show up for their service in the outside worship area.
Walking back to the unit for the 4pm count, I head to my room and find my roommate preparing a meal for dinner, since thankfully we were able to buy commissary yesterday. As soon as the officers complete the count, we begin eating. He made a mixed rice with black beans, pork skins, imitation bacon bits, seasonings, vegetable flakes, and a pouch of pork for each of us. We both ended extremely full, feeling like we were to explode since we have not eaten like this in nearly three months. I wash it down with some water, and prepare myself another cafecito, third of the day, I have not been able to rest today, but I know I will fall asleep quickly tonight.
Back in the chapel, the Jewish community arrives for their study group, and I head to my desk to begin stamping each book that will stay in the chapel, and waiting for the 7pm move, then back to the unit.
As soon as I get into the unit, I check the callout sheet for tomorrow, and notice many names are scheduled for “Admission and Orientation” at 7:30am, which means tomorrow I will be out of the unit at 7am with Counselor Cornavaca to help him in the chapel with the orientation. Thankfully I do not have a callout scheduled for tomorrow that could interfere with my work activities. I head into the Glasshouse and grab what I need to clean a shower. I remove the curtain and set it off to the side, and begin scrubbing the shower with Ajax chlorine powder, then I lay the curtain in the shower and scrub each side of it.
Walking out of the shower, one guy was waiting to get in, and as soon as he does, I hear him say, “This is what I am talking about, I love getting into a clean shower, it even smells clean in here, thank you”. I respond by saying, “no problem, enjoy”. I grab my things to shower, and jump into the shower next to the one I cleaned. The floor is filthy so I head up to the storage room and grab a small bucket, fill it with water and flow the water from one end of the shower towards the drain pushing all the hair/dust buildup and I will say it came out pretty clean, this way tomorrow the cleaning may not be as rough as usual.
I’m showered, body is shutting down slowly, they just counted, it’s 10:38pm now; I’m ready for bed.
Father God, thank you. Thank you because, I know I am doing a whole lot, and You are what gives me that push to do more and continue helping where I can. Give me that energy I need to be there for others no matter what it takes, because I know I can go to sleep tonight with a smile on my face knowing I have a clear conscious, a clean heart, a clean mind, and that even if others are may not appreciate it, there are some that do, and as long as I can share my love for the things I do, I am happy. Lord, today someone saw me soaking wet after cleaning the shower, after a long day of work and told me I need to stop cleaning the showers, that there is no reason for me to be cleaning them if I already work in the chapel, and even though he told me with the best of intentions, I responded with Colossians 3:23 and I will forever keep that in my heart, “Doing things as if doing them for God, and not for man”. Thank you Father for all you do and for keeping me going day in and day out. Thank you for watching for and taking care of my family. Please don’t ever leave my side dear God. In your name I pray, Amen.
Eduardo Luis Valdes
02499-506
February 12, 2025
10:45
