Dear Friends,
I just this minute received a letter from Tom dated July 4. I'll share it with you here:
Well after two long weeks I've arrived--I'm at the Huntsville Unit AKA The Walls--the oldest institution in the state located in downtown Huntsville, population 65,000. I guess they call it The Walls because of the 40' wall that surrounds it. It is also the place where they execute the death row inmates and bury them (I'll get to that later). The place looks like an old college campus complete with red brick buildings and a courtyard with trees and flowering plants. The courtyard is actually one big recreation yard. I finally feel like I am where I am. There are no dorms, just rows with 2-man cells like in the movies. I feel a lot of history here. We are about an hour from Houston.
I was also reclassified--I received my S2 - Trusty status. This means I am allowed to work outside of the unit, and you know what...my boss at Lopez was right--what did they give me for a job? Groundskeeper. We go all over Huntsville mowing grass! I am a gardener. I thought I was going to die on Friday--it was 103 degrees. I am going to try to find something else but they tell me they give the Trustys those jobs where they can go outside. Groundskeeping also maintains the cemetery. I hear that there are two executions this month. Wow! A gravedigger, too. I'll keep you posted.
I'm guessing that they will put me back in school but school is on summer break for three weeks.
My new address is:Huntsville Unit
815 12th St.
Huntsville TX 77348I haven't received any mail here yet, so I don't know what's going on. Hopefully I'll catch up this week.
If you have the time maybe you can put most of this letter in the Blog. (Editor's note: done!)
