It’s a crazy thing growing older in prison. I’m not old, and because of regular daily exercise, I feel vibrant, strong and full of energy. Yet I’m 46 now, and I know that my mind and body is changing. I feel in excellent physical condition, but I don’t run as fast as I ran 15 years ago, and I’m not as strong as I was in my early 20s. These natural changes bring thoughts about what life will be like when I leave prison and begin my life with Carole.
When I began serving this sentence, I was only 23. If relief doesn’t come for my sentence, I’ll serve more than three additional years, meaning both Carole and I will be 49 when we begin living together. We don’t know where we’ll live but we’ve been planning on moving to West Los Angeles. Today I read an article from the New York Times that suggested we ought to consider retirement communities.
That may sound ridiculous to my wife but as I read the article by Kate Murphy, the description of amenities appealed to me. The retirement communities require people to be older than 55, so Carole and I would have to wait a few years to qualify but we would need that time to bolster our financial stability. Homes range between $138,000 to $562,000 with monthly fees from $2,400 to $6,100 depending on square footage. But the price covers housekeeping, home maintenance, utilities, Internet, transportation, fitness facility, classes, social events, and nursing as needed. It sounds like living in a prison community except I’d enjoy the comfort of my wife’s company.
I’m sure that many housing options will exist for Carole and me. We don’t have children, we don’t drink, and we’re both well educated. But I haven’t lived outside of a prison since 1987 and I’m used to the structured time. A disciplined schedule is how I keep my energy level high. I intend to continue that structure when I begin living with my wife and a retirement community doesn’t sound bad. I hope we’ll be able to afford comfortable housing.
To stay fit, I ran 10 miles this morning and I followed my run with 500 pushups.
[Consecutive running log: 3,610 miles over the past 407 days]
[Pushups in 2010: 7,200]
Saturday, 23 January 2010
PDF 
