{"id":1249,"date":"2021-06-22T16:36:53","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T20:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/?post_type=article&p=1249"},"modified":"2021-06-24T20:36:14","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T00:36:14","slug":"beyond-bars-windows-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/article\/beyond-bars-windows-of-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Bars: Windows of the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Scott Petrie
Yazoo City, MS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How fragile life is on the other side<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of that window, so close, yet so so far,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

untouchable, unattainable, father, son, each holding<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a hand up to the glass that separates each from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

their loving touch, worlds separated to protect from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the unseeable enemy, the virus. (As was seen on World<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News) Later, that glass window was shattered as was that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr\u2019s, father\u2019s, son\u2019s home, as it was destroyed by a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

tornado. Lucky for them, they all survived, not so<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lucky for the over 58,000 left dead, more than the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

entire Vietnam War\u2026 think about that\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fathers forever gone, never to be husbands, daddies,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

grandpas, mothers unconsolable for the loss of husbands,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

children, parents, so, so many of life\u2019s future just<\/p>\n\n\n\n

erased. Thousands upon thousands dying alone. None, not one<\/p>\n\n\n\n

allowed to hold their loved one\u2019s hand to say I love you or<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that final goodbye. The very freedom to be able to mourn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

now restricted, such basic freedom taken away forever\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

lives captured like that of a prisoner\u2026 except yours<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is only temporary\u2026 mine\u2019s forever\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am a prisoner for the rest of my living days\u2026 if you<\/p>\n\n\n\n

call this living. My mom passed away almost 2 years ago<\/p>\n\n\n\n

now, 6-7-2018. As a Federal Inmate you don\u2019t get to go see<\/p>\n\n\n\n

them and there was no way she could travel the roughly 2,500<\/p>\n\n\n\n

miles to see me. She died in a nursing home, alone, by herself,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could not say, Mom, I love you, nor could I hold her hand and say goodbye<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as she left this most cruel and unforgiving world. Just as so many in society<\/p>\n\n\n\n

are suffering now over their loved ones passing because of this virus. Know this,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the suffering never ends for those like me, we never have closure, we never<\/p>\n\n\n\n

get to visit our loved one\u2019s grave to say goodbye\u2026 consider yourselves lucky\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I listen to all the psycho-babble about separation anxiety, depression, loneliness,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

fear, that society out there is experiencing and frankly I have to laugh really!!,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it\u2019s only been like 2 months yet they\u2019re predicting \u201clong-term\u201d psychological damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

oh and especially to the graduates whom cannot have their graduation get-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

togethers, oh-my-god life is just so unfair!! Look at the fathers and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mothers in prison nationwide who miss out on their childrens\u2019 special events<\/p>\n\n\n\n

like their graduation day. Yeah, I know we all put ourselves here, but is it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

any less cruel than what you\u2019re going through now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Society just got a short, tiny, bitter taste of what it is like to be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

held captive! It\u2019s time that glass window is broken, after all, are<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we not all human?? Do we not make mistakes?? Let\u2019s stop<\/p>\n\n\n\n

shattering lives and start shattering the barriers so that everyone\u2019s life<\/p>\n\n\n\n

means something. If you can\u2019t help shatter the glass maybe you can<\/p>\n\n\n\n

at least help<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        open the window.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Scott PetrieYazoo City, MS How fragile life is on the other side of that window, so close, yet so so far, untouchable, unattainable, father, son, each holding a hand up to the glass that separates each from their loving touch, worlds separated to protect from the unseeable enemy, the virus. (As was seen on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":32,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"issuem_issue":[220],"issuem_issue_categories":[188],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"class_list":["post-1249","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","issuem_issue-guild-notes-vol-46-no-1-2-spring-summer-2021","issuem_issue_categories-beyond-bars","post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t