It Was a Wonderful Day in Jail

 

By Fr. James Rude, S.J.

May 11, 2007

It was a wonderful day. When the kids first saw their mothers, some screamed with delight and ran to them, others sat quietly, anxiously, with a growing smile. But all of them hugged and laughed and touched, and some cried. It was a wonderful day. They had four or five hours together with lunch and soda pop for a buck and candy bars and face painting outside where some of the kids and their moms did cartwheels. Grandmothers were there too and some fathers, maybe an uncle or aunt or a family friend. A large number of non-family people were there to help: volunteers who watched and answered questions and served hotdogs at lunchtime, photographers who took free pictures of all the mothers and children if they wanted them -- and the mothers and kids all really wanted those photos -- and the guards and the prison officials who kept it going smoothly and went out of their way to make this a wonderful day.

This particular wonderful day took place at Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla. The scene duplicated itself in four other prisons, one in Chowchilla, the others in Ventura, Norco and Corona. It was the Mother's Day celebration put on by Get on the Bus, and it was a wonderful day. It all started nine years ago when two Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet organized that first bus to take 17 kids to see their mothers. They were acting out of concern for the mothers, but shortly realized that, if important for the mothers, it was essential for the children. This year there were 35 buses carrying some 680 children and over 300 adult helpers to the five prisons.

What I do not understand is why some people are against this. "They're criminals! They don't deserve this." To which I answer, "They are mothers  and their children need this." "They committed a crime; why didn't they consider the consequences before they acted?" Two-thirds of the women incarcerated are for non-violent crimes like drugs and sex. This means they are victims of tragedy rather than its cause. Why can't we be compassionate? Is there a rule somewhere in our society that forbids compassion and a sense of forgiveness? Is it only the Amish who forgive? The children need their mothers.

Let me tell you one story from last May 11. At the last minute I was asked to chaperone a child to Chowchilla because her grandmother would not be able to go. I met the child in the morning and was not disappointed to find someone not very enthused with me. She wanted her grandmother and was looking forward to seeing her mother. This old guy with a beard was just a part of the day she would have to put up. We finally were seated in the visitors' room waiting for her mother, and she  still had not warmed up to me. Then her mother showed up and they were all smiles and touches and kisses and laughter -- they spent a full, rich day together. On the way home on the bus, the child was warm and happy and very talkative with me. And then it all made sense. She was eight; she had not seen her mother since she was four -- our years without her mother. I think she had been scared, scared about her mother, not knowing what to expect. The children need their mothers and it was very clear last Friday that the children visiting their mothers at VSP -- and especially one eight-year old girl -- were getting what they needed.

My hat's off to the Sisters who started Get on the Bus and all the volunteers and donors who made this year possible. In the name of an all-loving, compassionate God, I thank you.