I spoke with my son Elliott last night. He was a little discouraged that he spent his birthday and Christmas and New Year’s Eve in jail this year.
Elliott has one roommate who is there for allegedly raping a man at gunpoint and just had nine embellishments added. One is a RICO (racketeering) charge. Another roommate is there for allegedly murdering someone. His own mother is testifying against him for the state.
So here is my son, with schizophrenia, sharing a cell with two people most of us wouldn't want to share a neighborhood with and he’s still in good spirits. He’s not delusional at the moment and is in much better shape than he was last year at this time. The state’s providing him with his shots and on time. We’ve learned to take this day by day. Every night he calls me and I always pray for him and the other inmates I’ve gotten to know. Some write to me and some I buy things for because their families have abandoned them. My son has shown me a world I never knew existed. He has grown my heart in ways I didn't know it could grow.
Elliott is my Daniel who lives in the lion’s den. He lives with hardened criminals — some have killed multiple people — and he does it with no fear. He actually moves past no fear to sympathy and empathy for many of them. He gives them his commissary when they first come in, makes sure everyone has coffee, and helps them in any way he can. He surmounts his own pain to help others. I can't imagine what his life is like, and I can’t imagine how I would handle the situation but he does it with such grace. He amazes me with all he’s been through. He amazes me.
Elliot remains my hero — he’s still the bravest person I’ve ever met. Our children, with broken minds, are beautiful souls in so many ways. If only the world could see…
Read Tamara’s post on this blog, “One Day at a Time,” September 20, 2018, in the archives on the right.
Read Tamara’s blog, Health Mind Ministry. Click here.
Elliott working on a helicopter when he was a helicopter mechanic in the US Marine Corp.