I was born in Hariem, N¥C. f grew up in the projects. iVe had training in many things, from acting to freelance writing.   I met my husband on a dance floor at a very popular "hole in the wa!!." He was fine as wine and! was a sister waiting to meet somebody like him. ! taik a!ot about our meeting and the fact that because he was so popular in the neighbood I grew up in, I knew of him way before I was actually introduced to him.

What is your husband serving time for?

Criminal activity related to his drug addiction. My husband became addicted to drugs, like so many men. And drugs changed him. It destroyed everything that we had bult, like it does in any relationship where one or both people are addicted to drugs.

 

What is it like to be sitting in a court room and watch your man get sentenced to jail time?

it was devastating, my heart feit ripped out. i knew my iife was going to change drastically because he wouldn't be coming home for a long time and then suddenly everything about my life had changed.

What is a prisoner's wife?

A Prisoners wife is a strong woman, a caring woman, She is a woman who jgye. perhaps, deeper man she should. A prisoner's wife is someone who loves unconditionally and knows that love can't be turned on then off like a light switch, not real love. She is a woman that has to constantly deal with negative crtiticism from her family and friends and society because of her decision to keep loving her man.

Talk to me about the "prison game," how is "the game" played?

Wow, it's a long story. I really want to tell you that you have to just read the book to find out because there are many games that inmates play.

What is it about a prisoners wife that the general public does not understand?

 

We are your secretaries, administrative assistants, nurses, medical assistants, traffic officers We work in hospitals, doctor offices, law firms, for the city, the state, the government. I work in an emergency room. I register patients, collect and verify insurances, I assist doctors and nurses in life and death situations. And every other month I sneak off to take a ride upstate to a New York prison institution, where I spend two days with my incarcerated husband on a conjugal visit.  And I am among ether women who held various jabs and who do ihe same. The general public seem to think that we are crazy or uneducated. I want society to know that we are not uneducated or crazy and that we are victims, too,

What is it about your relationship about Eric that made you want to marry him?

We were best friends on the streets. We were aiways together. We were buddies. People envied thatabout us. Drug changed him. It wasn't me or anything I did, rt wasn't our love. It was drugs. Drugs don't iovg nobody. ! want to add that thsrs is no logic to !cvs, you !cvs who you love.

What are conjugal visits like?

You spend two days and nights alone with a sex-starved inmate. You figure it out. Seriously, it is a time that you get to be with your man, you, he and the children get to be a family again. You bring al! the food you are going to need for the entire two days. You are along inside a trailer, though on the prison grounds, you would never know it except if you looked outside at the barbed-wired fence. Other than that, you watch television together, cook together, talk and it breaks up alt this difficult stuff and make it just a little bit easier.