Saturday, January 23, 2010

Girls' Night

I just got back from a rockin night out w/'the girls'. Bittersweet in some ways, as we went out to give our friend a night of pure fun and no stress. Why did she need this? Because her daughter is currently locked up in jail in a foreign country, going on her third year there and wrongly accused. She is not even considered guilty....you are not guilty there until you have been convicted and then there have been two appeals. She's innocent, sitting in another country, apart from family and friends. She is studying, learning to cook, find rays of light in every day.

This is my friend's life, a daughter in jail and spending her time finding money to afford visits, running to interviews and answering letters, and rarely seeing her husband. They bought a condo and a car in the foreign country so they can get around there. At all times, someone is in that tiny town so her daughter is not alone, and someone is here so their other daughter is not alone. My friend's ex-husband also spends time there, a constant rotation of family. They are only allowed to visit her for one hour, two times per week, but it's a comfort to just know someone is in town and will come by. Other days, there are visits from the lawyers, the jail pastor, reporters....this has been life for the past few years.

The amazing thing is her daughter's spirit. She has not given up, she has managed to learn Italian, French, German, and is now working on Russian. She personally writes back to EVERY person who sends her a letter of encouragement and support.

My friend continues to come to work, takes care of her other child, maintains a home and works around trips abroad. Wrong place, wrong time, framed, and now so many lives have been in upheaval. They have been to countless trials and such in a foreign system, where there is yelling, storming out, outbursts....and there is no assigned interpreter for them. Occasionally there will be a volunteer, otherwise they are lost and grasping for an understanding.

Donald Trump is appalled and advertising his support. Oprah wants them on her show. There are Buddhist monks in China that meditate on her daily, and nuns of Assisi that pray for her. Her daughter's friends come over and hang out sometimes, just to keep the connections going. Papers, magazines, tv stations....there is a constant flow of interview requests. In addition, my friend, her husband, and her daughter are all also charged with slander. My friend has a freaking court date for her own hearing....because she stated her opinion of a corrupt judge. She said "they can try to come and get me out of the US." That judge? Convicted today. Burn in hell asshole.

My friend just wants a normal life again, her daughter back, a quiet day.
She wants to hang out with her friends, laugh, drink, tell wild stories about high school days, try every dish on the Thai food menu, just live.

Sometimes, all i need is a little perspective. Life brings us all sorts of situations to face, I want to be more aware of giving thanks for what I have and not get lost in the 'have nots'.

I hope she comes home this summer, fingers crossed. Talk about UNFAIR. Unbelievable.

No comments:

Post a Comment