Dear Rich, Episode #4

                                                                    March 23rd, 2023

Dear Rich,

How are you my love? I woke up missing you a little extra today. Another day down. 29 Days until Court. We will get through this. I’m looking forward to the day that I get to pick up the phone and hear your voice on the other end. Of course, I miss talking to you the most, but I’m also missing my other daily life interactions. I miss my every day morning chats with Laura, and going over that day, and what needed to be done with the business and then of course, followed with the previous days gossip. I miss walking into Albertsons with Tori or Melissa and saying hi to whatever Guy I decided was going to be my “store boyfriend” for the day. I miss Siggys and all of the creations. Tori and I would come up with which we both knew with inevitably lead to “BB” which was pretty much everything. Lol. I miss talking to Kassandra almost daily about anything and everything, I miss all of Erica’s voice texts and the amazing and hysterical Instagram memes we would send each other daily. I miss catching up with Siri and Andrea and Kylie koo. I miss Ange’s encouraging, and always wise words. I miss hearing Tracey cussing somebody out under her breath because of their stupidity. I really miss seeing Ahnie and my brother for last minute dinners. I miss getting random texts from Melanie about some crazy local gossip. I miss being able to walk across the street and just walk into Jule‘s house and catch up with whatever story was current at the time. I really miss singing show tunes in the car with Tori – nobody else gets it like she does. I miss seeing Keith walk into work two minutes late and saying to him “good morning daddy! Your 10:30 is here for you”.  I miss our dogs. God I miss them so so much. I miss hearing the daily “tea” from Scottie and/or Matthew about whatever had happened that day in their world. I miss Marilyn coming over and giving us the latest crazy story about what assholes kindergartners can be. I miss having full text conversations with Marisa, using only memes. But most of all, I miss you.

Turning the tables a bit, dreams are still coming through here in Dayroom #4! I just finished my braiding appointment with Sebastian. If I were to make an educated, guess, solely based on appearances, I would assume Sebastian is half Mexican/half Native American. His hair is so thick, I thought I was putting my hands around a floor length coat made out of chinchilla fur. Originally Sebastian had asked for 3 large braids, but upon arriving to his appointment, had a change of heart and decided he wanted 4 thick braided cornrows. God, I wish I had a camera to take pictures or I could show you – but let me just say, that I am nailing it! Every. Single. Time. Like… You’re welcome residence of dayroom 4! He walked out of my “chair”, (which is a stool connected to a metal table), looking like Native American royalty. A true Pocahontas, if you will… Or Kokomo! (Tori will understand) LOL! 

During  “shift change” each day, which is always from 4 to 7 PM, we have to “Bunk it Up!” And if it is an obvious, it means we have to stay in our banks for that time period. Today, like most days was filled with a mountain of sexual jokes, back-and-forth bantering, and, of course, singing popular songs by replacing actual lyrics with sexually explicit ones. For example; instead of the unforgettable classic of, “I Will Always Love You”,  the word “Love” is exchanged for the word “F**k” instead. Again, I emphasize a high school, maturity level. And yet, it’s always such a treat.

In other news, back in my cruise ship days, the cast members would have this silly “call and respond” thing we used to do that could always get another cast members attention. One person would yell “yeeaahhhh!!” in a very high-pitched voice in the pitch would get higher the longer you held the word out. Go ahead and give it a try. The next person would respond with the same word, “yeeaahh,” however, the response would be more of a decrescendo in pitch. Think of it as a question, “yeeaahh??”” And then an answer with “yeeaahh!!” But remember both the call and response would be in a high tambered pitch. Like really up there. The point to this, is during today’s shift change I explained this to my group of 12. I knew they would be the perfect group to carry on the tradition. My suspicions were dead on. So dead on, that I’m starting to contemplate if I’ve made a mistake and sharing this knowledge. It’s currently 8:15 PM and I don’t think five minutes has passed without hearing a series of “yeeaahh’s”. And another pivotal moment in my teaching career. If you need clarification on what the sound is supposed to sound like when done correctly, ask Raymond. He may actually be the creator of the original “yeeaahh”, and has it nailed down to an art. I miss him so much too. I wish I was with him in our bathroom, making up some sort of theatrical dance that we would plan to share with the world.

Well my love, commissary is about to be here, so I’m going to collect that and most likely make a late night snack, read my book and fall asleep. I spoke with my mom earlier and she said that Melanie and Erica are coming to visit me tomorrow night at 7 PM. I cannot wait to see them both. I know I’m going to cry. But that’s for tomorrow. I’ll make sure I talk about their visit in tomorrow’s letter.

I love you so much, and cannot wait for you to see these, so you at least feel like you have some insight into my daily life here. I know it’s been helping me tremendously. Know that I am OK, know that I am safe, and know that I am missing you, the babies, and everyone else like crazy.

 I love you. A hundred kisses XOXO 

Forever yours, 

Sean ❤️ Pop Tart 

P.S. For everyone, that’s wondering, the answer is yes. We all have to poop and pee in the open in front of whom ever maybe watching. However – there is a rule. You must sit to pee. Praise Be. 

*Poptart Out*