This week is February vacation for schools in Maine, which means my daughter, Rose, and I have been home this week. My wife, Sue, teaches in New Hampshire, so she does not have the same break as us. For three days this week - Tuesday through Thursday - after Sue would pack her lunch and head out the door, I would load up my vehicle and head out to a show. Two of those days Rose was at the dance studio, but on Wednesday she joined me for our gig.
Tuesday I did two shows at the York County Jail. It was the first time I was there in two years, as last year's visit was canceled and rescheduled multiple times, and eventually never happened. The two gigs were for the general population first, then for the women and protective custody men. Both shows went great. We use the gym, so there's plenty of room to juggle, and I took advantage of that, doing several of my more complex routines. But the most memorable part was meeting up with Dalton, a guard at the jail who used to be in the school where served as principal in the late 90's through 2008. Dalton was in the same grade as our second daughter, Naomi, and I hadn't seen him since he was probably eight years old. I remember one time at dismissal where a whole group of boys, Dalton and his twin brother included, were wrestling in the hallway. "Gentlemen, that stops now!" I told them. As the crowd of boys separated from the melee, I noticed that Naomi was in the middle of the fray! They do grow up.
Anyway, after the two shows at the jail, the chaplain told me that what I spoke about piggybacked nicely with what he's been doing with the inmates lately. That's always nice to hear.
Wednesday's show was at Riverview Psychiatric Hospital in Augusta, with our good friend, Chaplain James. Rose came to this show, and her friend, Joey joined us for the day. Again, we were in the gym, so, again, we were able to cut loose with our juggling. And again, there was an unexpected reunion. A patient recognized me immediately from years ago when I did a service at the Oxford County Jail. He remembered the show in very specific details, and it has been at least five years since I've been to Oxford County. I always pray that the audience will remember what is said in the show, and it was nice to see that in this case, it really happened. On a different note, though, this meeting points out a huge issue in Maine right now, which is getting proper treatment for the mentally ill. Way too often, these people bounce around the system (or lack thereof) between jail, detox programs, homelessness and Riverview.
Thursday I once again dropped Rose off at the dance studio, then headed to the Windham Prison. Sister Marian, the chaplain, had the show set for the women's cellblock. Upon arrival, one woman recognized me from the Somerset County Jail where we did a Christmas service. I remembered her immediately as the girl who bit into the lemon to remove the dollar I had vanished earlier in the show. She also juggles a little, and we did a little stealing after the service. There was another young woman who was there Thursday who also had seen our show before, in her case at Long Creek youth Corrections. Again, it brought to mind the fact that so many people, often addicts or the mentally ill, just kind of bounce around the legal system and never really get adequate help. As long as they're locked up, tax payers can forget they exist, and nothing changes.
I have come to the conclusion that the prison system will not help the vast majority of people it sees. The mental health system, while better equipped to deal with addiction and mental illness, struggles to have the funds and legal support to do it to the fullest extent. I believe, in the end, it is the people like Chaplain James and Sister Marian who will make the biggest difference for many of these people. They do two things that none of the staff in these facilities can do: they can have relationships with the people, not just 'treat' them or 'manage' them. Finally, they can point the people in their charge to Jesus Christ, who can and does change the hardest and most broken of hearts if one makes themselves vulnerable and lets them in.