A Prison Visit

I went to prison last night here in Hillsborough. It took about fourteen months to get me through that gate but it was worth it.  For me and I truly believe in my heart that for that audience it was a truly memorable experience.  I gave a talk to a group of prisoners in a trailer and every seat was filled. You might say they were a captive audience but it might just have been one of my finest presentations ever.  First of all I was so excited making preparations that I left all of my speech notes at home.  I realized this just outside the prison gates but I figured it might be more fun to see just how well my memory was still functioning.  The guards were very kind and efficient at the gates and ushered us into the meeting site. I talked for almost an hour and during my presentation we shared three of the songs I had written and recorded with Greg Brayton over the years.  One song was titled, Don’t Wait Too Long To Make Your Dreams Come True and they sang the background blues chant for me like no other audience has ever sung it.  Oh it was fun. We laughed together and shared some serious moments. I just poured my heart out to them and they applauded twice at the end and every prisoner came up and we shook hands and they thanked me for coming. I was sort of celebrating my 56th anniversary of continued sobriety with them and I am so grateful that I could share that experience.Let’s just say we touched each other’s lives.