Cord's Update: March 2010

Hi friends and family, Well from the last letter from McCord, you can see that he has been blessed to be moved to Gunnison and be "Out of the black hole" as my sister says. We are so thankful that he is able to have more freedoms and actually get to take college courses and go to the LDS 12 steps and also church.
   He called at 5:30 tonite and Josh was here trying to get his letters downloaded to the blog. When the phone rang, Josh said, GUNNISON!!! and we all knew it was Cord getting to call us. He gets two calls a week now and because I am the only one in the family with a land-line, I get all the calls! yea for Qwest landline. Jana was here, too, so we all got to hear his voice and send our love to him.
   He attended church today and said there were about 50 people in attendance. He said it was a wonderful meeting. I know our family has been fasting for him today and we pray that he will be able to make right choices in there and be able to stay clean when he gets out. (and in there, as drugs are always available). He sounds so good and has his sense of humor, which we love to hear and is making the best of a really bad situation.
As a mother, I feel torn between wanting him out and knowing that because he is always such a model prisoner, I fear for him to be on the outside and worry about his ability to stay clean. He said that he is totally willing to do anything to stay clean and be able to live a "normal" life once he is out. I know he said that last time, too, but we can have FAITH and not go to FEAR! that he can beat this addiction this time. (yes mother's prayers are powerful......)
  We have to get our visitation papers in order, because the ones we sent in to Draper weren't processed yet, so we have to start from scratch. We have to send in copies of birth certificates and also our Social Security cards and McCord's birth certificate. Then the people at Gunnison have to do a background check on all of us, who Cord has invited in to see him. (They had to do that on my phone number too, to clear me so he could call). It all takes time and might be up to 45 days before we can go visit him. (Where is Gunnison???)

I still can't believe that he is in prison. It is like a nightmare to me....when he calls, i think"Oh he is just down the road at his townhouse" and then reality creeps in and the old fears come back. I know he has been struggling with his anxieties in there..those he has had since he was a baby. He always self-medicated before, so I pray that he can learn to handle his stress in positive ways. It does sound as though he is relying on the Holy Ghost to help him deal with everything as it comes up.
   I had told him the last time he was in jail, that I would NEVER go to the point of the mountain to see him...if he went to prison, that he was on his own. I am so grateful that I don't have to go into the Point of the mountain prison, as the Mutual kids had taken a tour there years ago and it was such a freaky experience for all who had that big metal barred door slam behind them and then they would open the next door and it would slam behind. I am worried about seeing him in Gunnison. County jail became such a routine when he was in for the whole year last time. We even had Home Evening visiting him on Monday nights. (He had commented back in the day..."Mom, I should have gone on my mission..." understatement?)
Maybe he will have a miracle and will get out at the 3 month mark and I won't even have seen him in a prison! (yes, even the word PRISON sends fear into my heart..) He has served 3 months in county jail and a month in prison, so he can go up before the parole board in May at the 3 month in prison mark, so that would be his 6 month total time (they count the utah county jail time as time served); so technically he could be out 2 months after that....or even if enough people write letters for him, then he could be out at the 3 month prison time! That would be the BEST possible scenario,however...and we pray that our Father in Heaven's will be done, as we know that Cord's life (and ours) is in HIS HANDS!

But we are asking for letters to be mailed to the Parole Board, which meets in May sometime. He said he needed between 10-15 letters, so if anyone is willing to write that would be wonderful.

We are truly thankful for everyone praying for our son and for our whole family. We know life is hard for everyone and we are truly thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for forgiveness and for the gift of the Atonement in our lives.

Thank you for your continued support.

Debi

Cord called my dad today and said he was transported to Gunnison Prison yesterday.
This is a very good thing. It means he is out of R&O (which was 23 hour lock down) and is classified as level 3. Level 4 inmates are gang members and the murderers etc, so he is away from that element. Being in Gen. Pop. means that he is out of his cell from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., he has access to the yard (which has a basketball court), and he has access to the library.

He finds out about visitation next week, as far as who has sent in visitation forms. He is eligible for two visits for the first 30 days, which are behind-the-glass visits. After the 30 days, they are then face to face (the amount of visits might go up, but I can't remember). Level 3 inmates have a lot more privileges than Level 4, and if Level 3s are caught fighting, they get sent to Level 4, which helps to cut back on fighting in level 3.

He said he sent two more letters, so we'll post those when we get them. He said to hold off on sending any letters until he gets his new address (but we looked it up ... see the right column for details). We think this is a big blessing and a good sign that the Lord is still looking out for him. Keep the prayers coming!