I had the opportunity to go and visit Josh Cramer three different times while I was home. The visits were such a big part of my trip home, I wanted to write something about them. The first visit was quite intimidating, contrary to what I had expected. I walked up to a door amidst towering fences heavily covered with razor wire. As I stood in line I observed the other people waiting and imagined what tragedies they had been through that brought them to such an uninviting place. We all had something in common; we cared about someone inside. After being searched and checked in, I was then shuffled through numerous doors/rooms and down a long walkway. I finally made it into the visitation room. I checked in there as well and took a seat. I was then informed by a friendly fellow visitor that the tables were assigned and there was a correct and incorrect side of the table to sit on. Once I was compliant with all the rules, I found myself internalizing the thought that I was about to see Josh face to face. It had been over 9 years since I had seen him and probably 7 since the last letters were exchanged. I was nervous. What if there wasn’t anything to talk about. Do I hug him? Will conversation be forced or easy? What will he look like? In about 10 minutes he walked through the door and we both had enormous smiles spread across our faces. (I’m sure partly from being nervous) I could type ten pages of the rest of this visit and the following two, but I’ll just share a general overview.
Conversation was never hard; Josh is a great conversationalist. He was extremely happy, upbeat, and positive to be around. He is writing a fictional book based on some of the characters and events in the Book of Mormon, and has become a superb wood worker, building anything from clocks to mini pool tables. He told me all about the jobs he has in a wood work shop making specialized/custom flooring. There’s much more to it than that, but I’ll play the girl card; I don’t know exactly what he does, only that it is very labor intensive. Companies pay the state $7 an hour for labor, the state keeps like $2 of each $7 and after an augmented amount of tax dollars are withheld, he keeps $1.50. You may ask…what does he need money for? A lot! For example, to keep pictures he receives he needed an album. The only way to get stuff like that is to order it from an approved catalog. The catalog charges $X and then the state charges Josh $X plus whatever profit they want to make. They can’t get fruit because too many people were making wine, and they lost their thick wool blankets to a much thinner version because people used it to escape the vicious razor wire. They have rules for everything because you can assume someone abused the freedom somehow.
We also spent a good bit of time reminiscing about high school days: Mrs. Gutierrez and the antics we each pulled in her Spanish class, Josh’s wrestling days and his numerous state championships, football games, and common friends. After my visits I felt a real love for Josh. I’ve always loved his family, but had now had a chance to get to know him all over again and in a more real way. 10 hours of talking had felt like 4, and I drove away with a new and better perspective of the blessings in my life.
I wanted to share my experience for 2 reasons. 1) As I said earlier, it was an important part of my visit home 2) I encourage all of you who knew Josh or would like to know him again to write or visit. It was a very positive and enjoyable experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment