I've been here for about eight months eight months nine months almost two years I've been in Mabel Bassett for 12 years I wouldn't say constantly the fights do occur people fight about stupid stuff the microwave showers you cut me in line just stuff fighting it's not my first option I don't really be able to sit down with you and talk about it we can scream about it if you want to for the first 5 or 10 minutes but I'm over it after that cuz I'm no one's listening but fighting is not an option that's true for some people there are a lot of relationships here people live here you know and everybody needs a companion I guess so yeah that one's true not all prison food sucks but most of it does hey what's so much going on for prison reform is there nothing we can do about the food I'm just confused I love enchiladas you just make it off canteen you can get like beans noodles a box of chicken sour cream just a basic stuff to make a meal take a shower man you smell like a skunk that old zidane vinegar and died I think that's not true either boss I was literally sitting within shower like three times a day and I feel like maybe I should be showering three times a day bar wouldn't let sit have makeup so that's a plus on canteen we can buy cover up mascara and eye shadow eyeliner we use colored pencils if you wet them it's there just like I mean it they work better than eyeliner of course we all have tricks of the trade I had my mom to me a really cool Christmas card and that was covered in glitter it just falls right off there you kind of just scrape it off and we'll use like gel or hairspray to like keep it there and we also have a beauty shop each unit has its own day that they go on you can get your nails I got my nails done last week and you can get your hair cut for that one day you get to be like a woman and feel pretty there's definitely some scary people in prison do I think everyone in prison is violent and dangerous absolutely not I've met some really sweet honest good people and I know that's really hard to believe being that we're in prison but I have I've met some really sweet people here in prison most of these women who are here behind Violent Crimes I don't want to say all but most is its self-defense or bad situations wrong place wrong time of course you have your bullies but that's anywhere you go just your choice to whether you interact with them or not the truth you can't handle the truth that's false it was nothing like what I see on television no one fought that hard for me no way they have a lot of cases to go through so they just kind of push it on through push it on through Here sign this not a lot of people know what they're signing I didn't go on trial and all that I just took a plea deal so basically the judge just told me how you're having five and five out they may sentence me and I came about a week later to prison I had a public defender he was not up to standard a year later someone else was appointed to me by the time the attorney got all of my paperwork and information it was so mangled and she was like this is the best that I can do I can get you 20 years everything is a mess and if we go to trial they'll probably try to hang you so I took it [Music] no that's not true I was a mom a wife a sister just made some bad choices it doesn't mean that I was a lowlife you do have some people that are just horrible that's men and women but not everyone here is a lowlife they just made some horrible mistakes it's not true absolutely not true I'm a great mom my kids love me dearly and I love my kids more than anything in life I actually just got a letter for my son who is 13 and he sent me a picture and on the back of the picture he said mom you're the best even though you're not always there and so no I don't think it makes us bad moms we made bad decisions because of the bad decisions I'm making I'm missing out on their life it's very unfortunate that our children are having to grow up without us but my son thinks I hung the moon he would he would run up to me and tell me that I'm his whole heart you know your mind too you have some of the best parenting happening right here women are reaching out to their children every day they go to camp they go to Girl Scouts they write letters they're taking parenting classes they're doing a lot to help the restoration of their family so women are putting forth a lot of effort they're not bad moms what do I love about myself I love my eyes yeah they're hazel green and they change to like this pretty hazel color with my moods I'm very optimistic yeah I want yeah I have a great heart if I see somebody that is in need I mean I will give somebody the shirt off my back I like my smile which I used to close down and hide I would have to say I'm resilient at best the past couple years have been a lot for me but I just keep going every day of trying to do better prison is like a little underworld we have relationships we have there's there's little groups walk in the yard it's like stepping out who can step out and have their hair the straightest and they're got your bad makeup on the best you don't put me in prison but I still have personality we still like to laugh we still like to have fun I mean we have to keep living some way or another people hold us as such a low bar when in fact we're intelligent we are just like anybody else just because I couldn't get mad out of my addiction doesn't make me a bad person I'm still a really good person inside and out and people tend to forget that I think there are some people that actually come here and see their mistake for what it was and there you go okay I'm not gonna go back to that life the misconception that people may have about me is that I'm no good because I've been in prison I am so much more than the box that anybody could put me in it goes back to that old saying you can't judge a book by it's cover I covers not a story do you never know what that books been through [Music] glitter cards are everywhere everybody needs the glitter card just say and if you know a female and president make sure to send her a glitter card promise you they can even like sell little pieces you can sell little pieces of your glitter card you know for like a dollar which is when I say a dollar it's like four noodles you know here there's that that's a dollar so [Music]