good morning everyone. sorryI haven't done more than check in lately. I've had so much going on with my dad going into the hospital last week. the crisis is over and he should come home the first of the week.
with the Georgia p/b taking so long to get the paper work back to Alabama. we have decided to try to get him to a half way house and out from behind the gates. so we are working on getting him into a house in Huntsville.the request is going to be faxed to the Alabama p/b tomorrow asking for him to be released to this half way house. we are praying it will get an ok, so that Lewis will be able to leave Limestone within a couple of weeks.we will still be working on getting him to Georgia and it could delay his homecoming for a few months, but he will not be in prison. his freedom is the most important to me. Wednesday is his birthday and even though I had other plans for him, I really can't think of anything better than him gaining freedom rather than sitting at Limestone waiting to be released. Happy Birthday to my honey, and hopefully FREEDOM will come very soon for him.
sue

Best wishes for your dad, and a speedy recovery. Happy Fathers Day to you dad!

**fingers crossed** for Lewis' freedom birthday present!! You are right! There is no better bday present than to walk out the gates!! Sending you all my good thoughts!

Congratulations.
hugs

JJT

I hope all works out well for you guys..... my fiance' gets out in GA this Thursday but he will have to stay there and parole out to his dad's for a while until we can work on tranfering him home to WI. You have been dealing with the wait for a lot longer than we have though, you are so strong. Keep your head up, God works in mysterious ways.... you guys will be in my prayers.

Sorry to hear about your Dad, Sue. Hope the halfway house deal goes well. Yeah, I imagine anything would be better than behind those bars under ADOC and hope he comes home real soon! Tell Lewis Happy Birthday, my son's birthday is Wednesday too.
He will be 25 and we all really miss him. This will be his 4th birthday behind bars and it hurts....we will get to visit him next Saturday but it's nothing like him being at home with us. Hope everything works out for you guys!!!

i personally wasnt able to find any halfway houses that werent RIGHT smack dab in the middle of the worst drugs, crime, and all points in bettween....mind if i ask how you were able to find something passable? rapha has the best program in the state so i dont intend to move joe closer to home, but i would like to be able to refer others, the only stuff i could find was breaking free and stuff like that, i was like NO WAY....but if theres somewhere in this town worthy of staying, i want to know so i can share with others and help them in their journey....im sooooooooo happy for you

oh sue, im sorry you havent heard anything yet.. you guys havent gotten ANY word on when they'll get around to releasing him?? won't having his home plan changed delay things even further? i wish the best for you guys, no matter how he gets out the important thing is that he'll be out...

Fingers and everything else crossed here, Sue...

Awww, Sue...sorry about your dad....I hope he gets to feeling better. I will keep him in my prayers!!! :)
I can't believe it's taking them sooo long to get Lewis home to you!! But, I hope and pray you can get him in that halfway house..so he will be out from behind the fence. :)
Make sure you tell him me (and Kevin) said "Happy Birthday"....okay!! We love ya'll!!!

huggs,
Selena

Sue, I am sorry to hear about your dad, I hope he does have a speedy recover!
I am glad that you are trying to find a way to get Lewis out of Limestone! I am just sorry it was not home to you staright from prison. But we know that God has a plan and things will work out for the best! I will keep you both in my prayers as I always do. I hope you get good news soon.
Love ya
Brandi

thank you for the prayers and well wishes. this is a hard and complex decision because it will take him longer to get home, but it will also give him freedom to a degree. I love him and my wishes are for his freedom from prison.we have discussed all of the good and bad parts and hopefully some decisions will be made today.

Lace, tell your son happy birthday from us. it does hurt to not have our loved one's home all the time, but on special ocasion's like their birthday, it really is more painful.

Ragland, the halfway house we are looking at is turning point in Huntsville. we don't know much about it except that 2 of the drug councilors at Limestone recommend it. Lewis doesn't want to go to a high crime area and put himself at risk of being sent back to prison. but we also know that the choises are within him to use and abuse or just say no.I'll let you know more about turning point as I investigate it.

Selena, I'll give Lewis your message. thank you for alway's being there. we love you both.
Cember, that is exactaly how I feel, it doesn't matter how he get's out, what matters is that he out. Georgia is dragging their feet and the way it looks right now, Alabama is going to have to resubmit a request to Georgia. that could take 3 more months before he gets released. from what I've been told, it could take up to a year of resubmitting before Georgia accepts him. it probably won't take that long however, but it is a posibility.I want what is best for him, then I'll be ok.

Lynn, thank you sweetie, I hope Brian get's closer to you real soon. have you heard anything yet?

strongernow,God does work in mysterious way's. we just have to trust him to know our future. I wish god speed for your fiance.

JJT. thank you. your right, there is NO better present than Lewis' freedom. I'm ok with any type of freedom he can gain at this time. he has been paroled since March 29th 2004, and still he sits at limestone.

the problem with my dad was that my sister called me before work last week and was rushing dad to the emergency room. she suspected congestive heart failure, which has happened twice already in the past year. he is recovering more slowly this time. my sister is an RN and was able to detect the early warning signs before he got worse.

Happy Father's day out there to all the Dad's
love you all
sue

prayers for all of your family....you hang in there girl !

Sue sorry about your husband and your father...hope all goes well......thats just not right to have someone paroled and it taking so long to get them home...its hard enough for them to get paroled in the first place..good luck sue and you all are in my prayers! Lisa!

Lynn, thank you sweetie, I hope Brian get's closer to you real soon. have you heard anything yet?

Still waiting, Sue. Hopefully soon. He had a feeling yesterday he might go last night but don't know when I'll find out if he did...

PS I got a call from our friend in Gadsden last night - she & Steve are both doing fine - she wanted to know if Lewis was home and I told her about that and also about your dad, she was sorry to hear of that and said to tell you she's praying for all of you...

ugh lys i wish so much, not only for you guys, but also so that i can hang with you when you go out to see him!
im so selfish!

Lynn, I hope Brian get's moved soon, and your visits can get started back to normal again.
I had a call from our friend in Gadsden on my answering machine and I've lost her phone number. if you get a chance, will you pm that to me? I'm glad that steve is doing well.
DeniceJ thank you for your prayers. I'm hanging in there and hopefully doing the best for Lewis.
LisaLisa your right. it is so hard to get a parole in the first place. then to make him wait for months on end is unreasonable. I hope your family is doing well.
Ragland, eek on turning point.it is not passable at all!!! I can't believe 1 much less 2 drug councilors would recommend it. personally I would not recommend any of the halfway houses I've investigated. a halfway house doesn't appear to be a good start for anyone coming out of prison, at least the one's I've looked at aren't.
Lewis talked to his councilor yesterday and was told that if he goes to a halfway house, then we would have to wait for 6 months to resubmit to Georgia, then if Georgia takes 3 to 6 months to get their answer back, we are looking at almost a year before Lewis could come home. so his decision is to wait it out at limestone. so now i'm off to e-mailing some state reps in georgia. sometimes an election year can be a good thing.
have a great day
sue

poor lewis must be going crazy. im so sorry for you guys, sue! i would definitely contact a state rep, sometimes just a phonecall from them is all they need to get their act together

i agree with you sweety, not one facility in huntsville is a good start....but now, rapha house where joe is, thats where you should do some checking into....they have less than a 1% return rate to prison in the last 7 yrs and they are quite proud of the fact...joe said he was sooooooooo thankful to be there if he had to be anywhere but home he calls it the country club of halfway houses....and mr hayes is FAST at getting them out and over to his place, you can even spend a few days with him before having to drop him off if you play your cards right....let me know if i can be of any help

Awww, Sue...I hate that you and Lewis are having to go through all of this...just to get him home. :( You, me, and everybody else knows...he should have been home a month ago (or longer). I hope and pray that he gets home really, really soon!!!
Remember...you and Lewis are always in mine and Kevin's prayers!!!! (((huggs)))

Love ya,
Selena