As part of the Bible Study process to restoring joy, we are supposed to share last week's tally with someone that we trust. That is something that's hard to come by in here. I sent a request to the chaplain to visit with him about my past, but I haven't heard back from him except for an afternoon that he called me down to his office just before count time, then left for a meeting.

I have a friend here, Will, that I 've been helping out. We were bunk mates over the summer and we've been in many of the same classes. We have talked about helping each other after we get out, maybe sharing an apartment or house. We're both in the Bible study so I figured we could trade histories with each other, seeing as we could be living with each other down the road.

Talking about our histories is one thing that most everyone here stays away from. There are any number of seedy guys who will use anything they learn about you to bring you down, so the level of trust that most guys have for anyone is pretty low. I've only shared my past with one other person and he was a fellow Christian that was about to leave to go home.

Needless to say, it took a bit if time to work up the courage to share such personal stuff as my history. Of anyone here at this unit, I trust Will more than anyone. After I told him about everything, he expressed solidarity, just as I did with him. I think knowing each othere's past will allow us to be a better encouragement to each other in the future. Of course, we can always us more of that.