family visitation!

Talking about discipline-I need it in the writing department. I didn't talk about our latest visitation! Ta-da...for the first time in over two years the entire family was together, all five at one table. Of course, that is my dream outside the prison, but this was a good second. My children always fall into easy conversation no matter how long they've been separated, and are like three peas in a pod. How I wish they had these opportunities more often! It seems like now that they are either in or on the threshhold of adulthood a comraderie has developed that is so unmistakeable you can't miss that these are siblings, and I'm so glad. One of my greatest fears of Bran being incarcerated was that somehow the long separations would halt the natural process of siblings growing up together and getting to know each other at every phase of life. I realize in many families, sadly, this does not happen, even when they live together, which is getting more rare all the time.

We had fun reminiscing and taking pictures. The prison has this funny machine that you can preset to shoot whatever shot you set up on a screen, like an automatic shutter release. We mugged and goofed around, and have probably what will be our Christmas postcard if I'm brave enough to go that direction!

Prison has done alot of things to us and for us. Some have been predictably terrible, like people staring into our windows and lives in ways only front page news could afford. My youngest daughter only recently shared about some of the incredibly cruel things printed in blogs after the news articles were put online. She had the wisdom, calmness and strength to answer these people in a way that brought apologies. I'm so proud of my girls. What prison did not do is stop us from living, being happy, being better people because of it, being good parents and thriving children, being more compassionate and aware, and taking so many things alot less for granted.

As long as we remain five, we'll be OK!!