She couldn't find one thing that needed attention. She said I was perfect and that everyone would fall in love with me tonight. I smiled at her and ...put my robe back on. She looked at the clock and said we better get going.I had my hair in a ponytail and didn't have any makeup on. I mean what's the point, they were not going to see my head or face. We walked down to the end of the hall. I was about to head up the new spiral staircase and I looked in the new security room. There were 2. Sloane, a tall and slender man, smiled as he walked down the hall towards the elevators. Such colorful characters down here, he thought to himself as he pushed the button going up. If only the whole world were like Andy. Harmless. The elevator took him up a few flights and he exited. He went through the double doors and then down a long hallway, then he hooked a right, and then he reached the 3rd door on the right. He was still counting the doors even though he’d used this office for a month. I am writing to tell you that I have finally won my appeal, and have been re-sentenced. My sentence has been commuted, it has been reduced from murder to manslaughter. I will be eligible for parole in 5 years. I have avoided you, because I did not want you seeing, nor thinking about me in this way. I feel, for the first time in a long time, hope. “Possibility of parole” Can you believe it? I am in a state of shock. I was resigned to living the rest of my life inside of this cage. I know it. Over many years, Jake and Samantha patch their marriage and are able to move forward. Gradually, they fall back in love and are able to put the wounds of the past behind them. At the age of fifty-six, Samantha is diagnosed with breast cancer. Jake takes care of her tenderly, through myriad chemotherapy treatments and surgeries to remove the cancerous lumps. Jake appreciates his wife in a way that had eluded him previously. She grew weaker physically and it became apparent that she would not.
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