Prison Date

I have Lisa from A Clear View to a New Life to thank for sparking the memory that leads to this story. In a recent posting, she listed under "Other things I have done: 157: Dated someone who was not then but is now in prison (sadly)".

In a coincidence that can only be described as "downright bizarre" I also dated a guy who ended up in prison.

I was home for the summer between my sophomore and junior of college working at the local Pizza Hut as a cook. T was one of the delivery drivers. Sparks flew! We began dating. I stole him from one of the other cooks! He tried to teach me how to drive his new truck. Oh the small town drama of it all!

After several months it was clear that our lives and priorities were completely different. I was headed towards graduate school. T was headed towards his fourth job and his truck had been repossessed. I ended the relationship.

After we broke up, T earned the nickname "Radar Man" by my family for his uncanny ability to know when I would be home. It did not matter if I was returning for a weekend or a break – he always knew and he always called or stopped by the house to see me. It was downright creepy after a while.

Midway through my senior year of college the phone calls and visits stopped. I breathed a sigh of relief and moved on to graduate school in North Carolina. T became a distant memory.

Until the letter. Which arrived while I was visiting my parents one random weekend.

The letter had a Georgia postmark and address. It was mercifully short and did not mention his current location or employment. He wanted to know how I was doing and that he thought of me often.

When I looked up the address I discovered he was writing from a prison.