A little background...
Gee this is difficult! How to start?
My great nephew Andy, 20, has been arrested for heroin purchase, declared ward of state and tossed into some sort of solitary/detox situation in FL. This happened fast, no court appearances or anything that I can tell, but I hear he'll be there for quite some time. While synthetic heroin-like Oxycodone is available at any "pain clinic" in FL, if you don't have the money for that and buy heroin on the street, it's a felony.
And I'm not happy with that start but I've sat here too long...
Andy's dad died at home of cancer related complications when he was just out of high school. That's not an excuse, he was one of those kids who partied in high school, and the bowl of pills was a common occurrence. We think that's where he got hooked on Oxy and that type of drug. He was working to get clean because one of his school friends that he partied with died of an overdose. Things seemed promising until his dad died and then he went into a tailspin.
His mom finally got him into a program, and because dad left great insurance he was sent to an inresidence facility in Florida. I imagine it's the kind of place Rush would go. Same neighborhood. But, when he got out he insisted that he needed to stay with his buddies in FL and they'd look out for each other. He had difficulty staying for even weekends when he'd visit home. He needed to get back to FL.
His mom lives far enough away she'll have to fly (& take time off work) if she visits. That cuts visits to a minimum. Nobody else in the family lives in FL. His only communication is prestamped USPS postcards, no felt marker ink, no packages. My sister sends him a few postcards each week of the usual family fluff. His mom says he begged for the cards to continue as reading is his only activity in the cell.
His only reading material is whatever available at the jail where he's being held.
Andy, teenaged behavior aside, is not a stupid kid. He has shown talent writing and is a great drummer.
I thought rather than send postcards every day or two...saying not much of anything...I'd send him serial post cards of poems, writings, short stories...And I've gone through what I have here. Nothing seems appropriate.
So, I'm asking the Kos community for suggestions. You guys have any ideas?