I’m wide awake from a deep sleep, I look at my watch, its 1:45am. “Why am I awake?” I thought to myself.
In the distance I hear someone vomiting in the restroom, it must be Mr. Readon. I hope he is okay. I hear him getting back to his room and climbing into bed, so I turn in my bed to sleep.
First Tuesday of the month, means hygiene kits and we get to exchange our sheets and blanket.
I have yet to even get my set of uniforms, so I fill out a request form, grab my sheets and blanket, and take the breakfast move over to the laundry department. I have my laundry bag in my left hand and using my right I am pulling the Glasshouse laundry cart since today is our day for clothes to be washed.
Mr. Escudero and I are first in line, as I pull the cart all the way in for the guys, and head back to stand and wait for the officer to open the window.
Me: “I brought a cop-out because I have not received my class-A uniforms yet since the shakedown”
Officer: “Kinda late to be asking for that don’t you think?”
Me: “Sir, that day, one of your guys must have given my bag to someone else, and you told me to give my name and I.D. number so they could get the uniforms for me, but no one has said anything to me yet, so here I am.”
Officer: “Leave a laundry bag with the request form”
I leave my laundry bag, and take my fresh set of bedding plus hygiene kit, which includes two small bars of soap, a toothpaste, a small toothbrush that scratches your teeth more than it brushes, and a few one-blade razors. I walk towards the dining room with Mr. Escudero to grab some, all-bran cereal, a tasteless cake slice, and a cut-in-half apple (both halves not necessarily from the same apple) with two milk cartons for breakfast.
We head back to the unit, and wait for commissary to be called; I see Mr. Rivero is dressed, and he has his wheelchair propped by my room, ready to go. I quickly prepare myself a cafecito and sit to wait. At the 7:30 work call, we all walk over to commissary and stand-by, waiting for our names to be called. While standing there, I notice one guy struggling to put his items in his bag, so I step up to the window and offer my help. The next guy seems to be in the same situation, so I step back to the window and offer my help, and finally I stayed for the following person, to help him.
9:00am; Mr. Rivero and I have not received our items yet. The compound officer approaches and tells us all to return to the unit, they are closing the compound.
9:30am; I grab my daily devotionals and read through them. From “Jesus First for Men, 365 Devotions to Start Your Day”, it shares an excellent verse.
“Every Scripture has been written by the Holy Spirit, the breath of God. It will empower you by its instruction and correction, giving you the strength to take the right direction and lead you deeper into the path of godliness.”
[2 Timothy 3:16]
If I and probably many others, would have focused our lives more on learning, studying the Word of God through His Scripture, we most likely would not be incarcerated. Since being incarcerated, I have learned to live my every day according to how He wants us to act so we may live a righteous life as a different kind of person, and stay away from any wrongdoing.
10:00am, still no commissary, and we are not sure when we will be called to go purchase our items.
As we sit to wait for the call to lunch, I share some time conversing with Mr. Garcia, then over to Mr. Rivero and others who sat at the same table, and chow is called at 11:45. Wheeling on down to the chow hall, we hear from others they gave us chicken on the bone today, quite a surprise.
Walking back to our unit, I drop off Mr. Rivero and get my psychology course booklet to wait for the 1pm move. Today is the last time we will meet up for this class, and it is the last group class in the Non-Residential Drug Alcohol Program follow up courses. I remain on the waitlist for other courses like “Anger Management”, and “Trauma”.
1:15pm, no move was called, we are still in the unit. The officer unlocks the laundry cart and both Mr. Tier and Mr. Cooper hand out the laundry bags to each one of us in the Glasshouse. I unload my bags and fold each item to fit properly in my locker.
2:11pm, and they just called a 10-minute move, but there is a slight rain drizzle and I don’t think the psychologist is still around at this time, but I put my class-A uniform back on and walk over to psychology. I find the door closed, lights inside off, so I return to my unit, put my comfortable shorts on and get in bed for a nap.
Four o’clock count, no way I was able to nap with all the noise in the Glasshouse. I get off my bunk to stand for count and as soon as the officers pass our room, I put my sneakers on, and get what I need to take the recreation move over to the yard. I call dad at 4:30, and keep the call to five minutes so I could manage my minutes better for the month.
5:15pm and a five minute rec move is called. I am the first one out of the unit walking quickly to the recreation entrance as I want to turn in a request form that will enroll me in a course they have starting March 25th. Once at the gate, the officer asked me to hold on to the form until Saturday lunch time to turn it into the officer in charge of the course, so I put it away, and head over to the track where I meet with a buddy of mine and walk several times around the track with him, having great conversation. Once he got tired, I stopped to do some workouts with Mr. Carmona and Mr. McGowan. I don’t do as much as them as I am still in the beginning stages, but I do what I can without hurting myself, and get a good sweat in.
The next move was done at 6:10pm, which allowed me time to do a few more workouts before heading back to the unit. As I walk out of the gate and begin my way around the lake, I notice at one of the units there is an AIC crouched down next to a young German shepherd. Apparently that puppy is part of the “Pups on Parole Program” that was started this week here at FCI Miami. I would love to find out a little more information on it, and see if it may be something I would be interested in doing, even though I am a tad allergic to dogs.
I get back to my unit, quickly grab my things to shower and wash up. I get into the shower fully clothes, with socks and my hat, and get under the water to rinse of my clothes all together so when I put them in the laundry bag, at least the sweat won’t make it stink until laundry day. I open my locker and grab my small square bowl to prepare a meal. I start with one ramen soup, one mackerel fish pack, some chicken bites I cut into pieces, and mix it all into the bowl; I add bacon bits, seasonings, lemon juice, and add the boiling water from the machine nearby. I let it sit for a few minutes, then I add some roasted peanuts for an extra crunch and protein, and I sit with my headphones and radio to watch some television as I eat.
Time to wash the bowl and put things away. I just realized my tablet is at 10% battery so I set it on the charger and come to the computer to add to my journal. At this very moment I hear Mr. Readon nearby calling for me, probably to help him with the request forms I promised I would help him with, so here I go.
8:56pm, I was able to call my mom and speak to her, she is doing good. I just spent the last 35 minutes putting together some request forms for Mr. Readon as he needed, and now time for me to sit and watch the “Presidential Joint Address to Congress” on Fox News.
Thank you God for this day, and for everything you have done guiding me throughout my days. Thank you for my family, friends and loved ones. Thank you for the will of always being at the right place, at the right time to help others. I pray, asking that you never leave me, continue to build my faith, and help me be the person You want me to be. Amen.
Eduardo Luis Valdes
02499-506
March 4, 2025
21:00
