“I really need them,” she said. “I miss them all so very much. Please let them know how much I love them.”
If Barbara’s family had, indeed, been able to come to visit her, they would have undoubtedly seen a very different person than they had dealt with the last time they were together, back in Texas for their mother’s funeral, days before Barbara and Schiess were arrested when their plane touched down at the Atlanta airport.
In addition to the startling weight loss, Barbara’s mental clarity seemed to have become a great deal more focused. Now that she was in prison, where a court order had ruled that inmates’ prescription medication would be administered correctly and properly, her mind was much sharper, her thoughts were far better organized, and she seemed to be functioning at a much better level than prior to the trial, while she was in the care of the DeKalb and Cherokee County Jails.
The county jails no doubt were much quieter than Tutwiler, and the food was probably better, but being medically regulated for the period of time at Tutwiler had made a great difference in Barbara. Thin, haggard, and as tired as she might be due to lack of proper rest, Barbara seemed to have gained strength while in the prison. If she could be patient and work through the appeals with her attorney, perhaps things might move faster for her than for Betty Wilson and other inmates. And Judith Ann Neelley could tell her that sometimes an unexpected stroke of fate might accidentally come her way.
Hopefully, Barbara will heed her own advice to the other inmates:
“Just ... continue praying and never let go.”
Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals connected to this story.
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Copyright © 2010 by Sheila Johnson
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