You sound like you are a great mom and I'm glad your son has you for a mom.

pesky, I sure admire your son. What courage and mature perspective he has! Must get it from his folks :) I'll pray hard that the next 100 days fly by for you. Best wishes to you & your family.

Thanks for the update. I had wondered what was going on these days. This life certainly is unfair and I wish nothing but good things for you and your son the rest of your lives and hopefully your son (even though he was a great guy already) will be an even better person after the heinous experience.

"I have to say I AM proud of my boy...he is my hero, and I've no shame in him."

I have tears in my eyes. You are a wonderful mom and he sounds like a chip off the old block. Bless you ;o)

(((Nora)))

Pesky, thanks so much for the update. I've been wondering about your son, but didn't really want to come right out and ask here. I figured if there was something to tell us, you would - and I'm so glad you did. I'm thrilled that early release is a possibility, and so hope they allow him to return home as soon as possible. I so admire his and your attitudes throughout this whole preposterous ordeal. I remain furious at the powers-that-be, for choosing to "make an example" of a young man whose actions harmed no one. I'm so very thankful that he has retained all of those beautiful qualities of his, in spite of the way he was treated. Perhaps this will only serve to make him stronger and even more compassionate towards others who need compassion most. Bless you all.

I really hope he's able to be released early. I still floored he's in there! I'm sure he's counting the days. Does he have plans for when finally gets out?
Hugs to you and your son. It will all be over hopefully sooner than later and through this miserable process, he'll be a stronger person.

I also was wondering about your son; you seem to be holding it together, and
I really hope things turn out that he does get an early release.

good luck and keep us posted !

He must have a very strong internal compass to retain his gentle, compassionate qualities through this whole fiasco. I hope the days pass quickly (for both of you) and he is able to put this behind him and move on in the direction of his dreams with his integrity intact.

I had wondered how he was doing but like others didn't want to ask. I am glad that he is holding up well. We have " been there done that" but not for as long a time as your DS. My heart goes out to you and your family. c

I am glad to hear this news. You are an amazing family, and I pray that the days pass quickly.

I can't believe you are going through this. From your other posts, I pictured a woman worried about everybody else and always lending a helping hand. I am sorry and hope the time passes very quickly.
I quote you a lot when I'm feeling a bit down: "my body has scars of a life well lived". So, thank you.

I'm still in shock that he's there at all. I do so hope he remains his compassionate self. Isn't there some way this entire miscarriage of justice can be wiped off his record? I try not to think about how unjust the punishment is. It must drive your family crazy.

Thanks for the update Pesky. It still makes me angry that the state is spending money incarcerating your son for what was basically a prank. Meanwhile real criminals are out on the street. GRRRR!

Many thoughts, prayers and (((((((hugs))))))))) being sent from our house to yours... Have you thought about what you are going to make for his first home cooked meal once he's out?

Pesky, nothing can give back the time he has lost, but it sounds like he has done the best with the situation, and perhaps someday will be able to use this experience for a greater good. I cannot imagine what you have all been going through, but I am so glad that it appears to be nearing an end.

Hugs to you all. Thank you for the update.

Hi Pesky,

I don't know any details about your son's situation, but I wanted to give you some encouragement.

When I was 12, my brother and his friends did some stupid stuff and got arrested. My brother was in jail for a year. I remember how devastating it was for my parents, especially because we live in a small town where everyone knows your business, if you know what I mean. It was hard for me as a pre-teen to watch my parents be in such agony. They were always there for my brother, and he is forever grateful!

Now, 32 years later, he is happy, functional, normal, 50-year-old man with a good job and wonderful family. You think you'll never get past it, but you do. We almost never talk about it, not because we are trying for forget, but because so many other life experiences have overshadowed that event. At the same time, he freely tells people about it, if he feels it will help someone else.

I hope it doesn't sound like it took 32 years to get past this, LOL! It was only a matter of a year or two and him growing up that started the healing process.

HTH

Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement. It has really meant a lot to all of us to know that there are others out there who care and share our outrage at this injustice.

We are finally letting ourselves talk about what he'll do when he's out, his first wish is to go to IHOP. Whatever, we'll do it! He will probably want a private homecoming, get used to being home and free and able to use a bathroom with a door. Then we plan a party for friends & family. If it's after the holidays that he's home, we're having Christmas in February, where the house will be decorated with every holiday theme, and we'll serve a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and open presents.

Jon is planning to go back to school...he's talked about going to tattoo school, but also getting a degree in business...he thought tattoos will provide him back up income. For the short term he would like to travel the US, but has to wait till he's allowed to leave the state. We think he's going to go live with his sister in a small town where no one knows him and he can attend the college there. I think it's a great idea, and it suits his personality.

All I know is that I'm so happy my son has retained his sense of humor and is probably even more compaasionate now than before. Especially because he's run into many people who don't have any sort of support system,education or hope for the future. And he's run into the worst attitudes of homophobia, racism and hatred, and it's more firmly entrenched his ideals of fairness.

We are planning to petition the court to expunge his record once he's completed all post-prison supervision. We'll also petition for a pardon, but that's not as likely to happen. We're confident we can get his name cleared, but it's not going to happen fast enough.

pesky, amazing...the truism that character is revealed in times of stress rings so true here. I wonder how many of us would be as strong under such pressure. Strong people have cracked under similar circumstances.

Another truism: it's not what happens to you in life that determines who you are, it's how you react to it. I'm deeply inspired by Jon's reaction to seeing the worst. He's had to look it in the face and has come out with stronger compassion than ever. You've raised a good man, mom : )

I have a sense that he is meant to make a Difference somewhere. Hope his last days fly by without incident and you have him back in your arms, and he can start college, a bit older, but infinitely wiser.