“I never laughed so hard in my life because we used humor to keep us up instead of complaining all the time,” she said. She recalls many funny moments with inmates and other medical staff. Laughter was also the best medicine for her own well being. Gedney’s method is to spend time outdoors and exercising. Self-care is advice she wants to give young people today. I had to deal with shock, anger and then find forgiveness,” is written on her website. Being assaulted and raped by that inmate, and then seeing him killed by the SWAT team affected me emotionally, and made me doubt myself. “The most challenging experience I faced in the prison was being held hostage by an inmate on Friday the 13th October 1989.

Gedney dealt with horrific trauma herself. They don't showcase the energy that goes into preventing people from entering prison or from going back to prisons.” And then if someone leaves prison and messes up, that's what they showcase. Unfortunately, politicians tend to like to push a fear button in terms of get tough on crime and put people in prison. “There's so many pieces that could be improved if society was interested in prevention. She said prison reform gets talked about but then never goes far enough, and the same goes for what she calls “prevention.” And the biggest piece is for society to be part of a solution, instead of complaining when the child spins into juvie and then into prisons,” she said. Schools are unfortunately not really heavily funded for that, but they could be in terms of helping kids after school, in terms of programs, that enable them to get a little bit more help so they can keep up with other children. “I think that society should be set up more in that prevention mode. These children now mostly lead successful lives and some have college degrees and even their own houses at very young ages. She herself, with her late husband, mentored a handful of children who had at least one of their parents incarcerated.

“They can enable a mentor to be with a kid and can change the kid's life because they see a whole other experience, but also a person who really truly cares,” she said. Gedney advocates for mentoring programs like Big Brothers, Big Sisters and the Boys & Girls Club. Having fewer people in prisons should be one of the main goals of our society, with the United States having the highest incarceration rate in the world.

30 Years Behind Bars by Karen Gedney