Our first photo of Kenny, taken on Wendi’s phone at 8:34 pm.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Posted here March 11, 2022
Up 6:15 am. ~ Jimmy Dean biscuit sandwiches for breakfast. ~ Got gas at Roman’s 66, 7:53 am. ~ Left with Wendi for Waupun, to get Kenny at Dodge Correctional and bring him home. ~ Arrived at the prison at 9:33 and was there until 10:28. A guard walked with him for quite some distance to where our van was. Upon his arrival, he was queasy and threw up; it was all liquid (he had only drank orange juice but hadn’t eaten anything). ~ There were six boxes of Kenny’s property that I had to load into the back of the van (I had removed Wendi’s wheelchair before leaving home).
The drive home went well. We stopped at McDonald’s in Janesville for lunch (11:59). Everyone had Chicken McNuggets and fries. ~ We arrived home with Kenny at 12:49 pm.
I quickly prepared the materials for the worship service our church group puts on at a local nursing home, then left for the 2:00 service, leaving Wendi at home with Kenny.
After the meeting, Wendi, Kenny, and I went on what Kenny called an “excursion.” We went to Walmart (checkout, 4:47) and bought briefs and socks for Kenny, and long socks for Wendi. Wendi got a 20 oz. Mountain Dew at the checkout. Kenny got a pack of wintergreen snuff (chewing tobacco); in his Native American tradition, he chews it and offers prayers for the healing of the nations as well as other things.
Next, we went to Woodman’s for a grocery order (checkout, 5:26) which included Gold Bond lotion for Kenny, and artificial tears and a Monster energy drink for me. Kenny was like a kid in a candy store, walking around, just absorbing the sights and smells. I took him down the coffee aisle for a real treat.
Our first photo of Kenny, taken on Wendi’s phone at 8:34 pm.
After the long, busy day, I was not ready to cook, so at Wendi’s suggestion, I ordered Jimmy John’s subs—three Ultimate Porkers. To my amazement, the guy was there to deliver them only eight minutes later, at 6:45… hence the slogan, “Subs so fast you’ll freak!” The subs were filling enough that we didn’t need anything else.
The rest of the evening was a blur… lots of talking, making up for lost time. Kenny had been in lock-up for well over 31 years and was now enjoying freedom and family life for the first time since. As for today’s technology, he was aware of it but not accustomed to it; he had seen people using cell phones before but didn’t know even how to hold one to talk. So we had quite a time. I cleaned up the kitchen and tried to catch up on some records and other stuff, but I didn’t get finished at all. We got to bed sometime around midnight.