So somehow 24 hours has slipped away since I received notice that Bobby Joe is to be executed on May 23, 2019. I have less than a month to ask questions and decide if I want to take Bobby Joe up on his offer of buying me a chipotle bacon cheeseburger.
I never took this meeting seriously, probably because I thought there was still plenty of time. Maybe it’s because I can’t believe he is allowed visitation as well as access to the commissary items that could be shared during a visit.
But now I find myself wondering whether I should see him face-to-face and look him in the eye. Will I see any humanity left in him? I see glimpses of the man and not the monster occasionally in his letters but those glimpses are few and far between.
Then I ask myself, why am I doing this at all? What will I gain in continuing my professional relationship with him? Did I really think that I could find the man inside the monster? Reaching out to him, what was I hoping to learn and share with my students?
The only answer that I have for myself today is, that I have 28 days left to try and find the answers to these questions.