Good morning everyone, I am up in a rush due to staying up late watching the elections. The results of the election were just as expected plus some more. I need to hurry, it’s commissary day and Mr. Rivero is probably, hopefully waiting for me. I finish getting ready and shimmy over to his room to find he is covered from head to toe in a deep sleep. I didn’t rush him; I don’t want him hurting himself, so once he is done getting dressed and puts his feet into his shoes, I crouch down and tie them both for him, I grab his I.D., laundry bag, and pull his wheelchair out of the room, we are ready to go.
By the time we got to the commissary we can see the dining room was already closed, so we go wait under the aluminum roof for our names to be called. Mr. Rivero gets called first, and after putting all his items in the bag, my name gets called. We are done and heading back to the unit, where I drop him off in his room, place his commissary/laundry bag on a chair in his room, fold his wheelchair, and head over to my room with my bag of goodies. I left my bed a mess so when I get back I fold my sheets and clothes and organize it on my bed. First time in nearly two years that I buy cereal on commissary. I purchased two bags of an off-brand “Raisin Bran” cereal, so today I had a pretty good breakfast I would say, as I pour milk from the 8oz carton into my bowl, and add some cereal.
Eight in the morning, 10-minute move, heading to medical for a “callout” with my assigned physician assistant about a pain I have in my left elbow that has stuck around for the last two months. Apparently he could not prescribe me Ibuprofen, nor Tylenol at high dosages. No problem, I hope he documented it so I have it for my records. I head back to my unit and make myself a small four ounce cup of “Cuban coffee”. Today the national food menu shows, “Hamburger/Fries” which does not appeal to me at the moment, and Mr. Rivero does not care for it, so I wait until 11am and prepare myself a quick healthy lunch. I grab my bowl, open a pack of salmon, a pack of tuna and mix it with some mayonnaise, Mrs. Dash seasoning, garlic powder and top it off with some roasted salted peanuts. Mr. Aquino, my roommate, does not understand me with my “roasted salted peanuts on everything” ordeal, but it’s okay, we get to joke about it and bring some laughter to our day.
A move is called and I am headed to the chapel for work. Today we have Catholic and Santeria services. I prepare things in the chapel for service, and play a music CD that we have in our media center. It was so peaceful in the chapel. I headed to the front row, laid down on the chairs, crossed my hands over my belly, and closed my eyes. The music with the cool temperature and acoustics of the chapel quickly put me into a daze. All of a sudden, the person singing on the soundtrack says a prayer, I wake up as she goes through the prayer, and my arms fill of goosebumps. Thank you God for this, what a beautiful hour it has been here in the chapel.
After service completes, Chaplain Kulungu quickly escorts us all out of the chapel, and we head back to our units. “What’s for dinner”, I thought, as I pass by Mr. Campos’ room, I see he is in a deep sleep, so I don’t bother him and continue to my room to find Mr. Aquino. “What is for dinner tonight?”, I ask him. “The menu shows Spaghetti and Meatballs……But we are not sure of what meat they have, so I am not going. Want quesadillas?”, he responds. I give him two packs of shredded beef, he has the cheese and tortillas, and somehow when I returned, they were toasty and delicious. I don’t want to know how it was done, but I am very happy to have enjoyed the food. I drink some water, and head to the phone to call Mr. Bermudez to wish him an excellent upcoming 4 years, we haven’t spoken in a bit, so it was nice to hear his voice. I hear his wife in the background cheering on the president-elect which brought a smile to my face. Call is cut off at 3:30, I head to my room, grab a Snickers bar, and go sit down to watch some news before count time.
Officers are done counting, I head to the phones to call dad. We are so happy with the election outcome, and pray for great things to come for this country. It’s time to head to the chapel for the evening services; Chaplain Estrin is here for the Jewish study group. The sign-in sheets are out and ready. In the restroom, I clean the toilet, sink, sweep the floor and add a new TP roll. I empty the trash bins, and replace the bags. I take my dustpan outside to the water spigot and rinse it clean. Sitting at my desk finally, I pull out four request forms and fill them out for several Spanish speaking guys who want to be enrolled for the chapel classes, organize them according to class, and I am almost done for the day. The Jewish guys are out of the chapel and on their way to their units. I stay behind to close up with the chaplain and verify the chapel is clear. He escorts me to my unit, and radio’s over to the unit officer asking to unlock the door for me.
I quickly spot Mr. Rivero and Mr. Campos playing dominoes, and I go check the “Callout” list for tomorrow. None of us are on it thankfully, so tomorrow seems like it should be an easy going day. Time to shower; I have a few minutes before it is my usual time of calling mom, so “giddy-up Eddie”, I tell myself.
Had a nice call with mom and mima, but I am getting hungry. As much as I don’t want to, and I shouldn’t, I give in. Back in my room, I grab a pack of ramen noodles, a pack of pork cracklings, crunch it up, put it into my bowl, fill it with hot water just enough to cover the food, cover it, and let it sit a few minutes. Spoon in mouth, bowl in hand, tablet under arm and headphones on my head. (Why didn’t I just carry the spoon in my other hand?). I sit in my chair next to Mr. Aquino to watch the movie “Baywatch” that is playing on “FX”.
It’s the end of the night for me, it’s almost 21:30hrs and Mr. Bethune just sat next to me to see if his “woman” wrote to him. Mr. Bethune is one of those guys you just enjoy being around. It’s people like him that help others in here get through the day, even though at times, Mr. Bethune looks for me as well for a “cheer-up”.
Father God, continue with your plan for our lives. Make me a man who does not fight you. With all I have been through and have learned, I want to trust your plan and not try to undo it. Dear Lord, I trust in you, I have faith in you and I believe in your will. I want to follow you forever oh God, please protect my family, friends and loved ones, and allow me to do what you need of me to keep me righteous in your eyes. Thank you Father for this day and all you do. In your name I pray, Amen.
Eduardo Luis Valdes
02499-506
November 6, 2024
21:12
