Staci Swedeen

Yesterday afternoon I went to local film festival to see a screening of JAIL TALK - a new documentary made by my friends Michelle and Chuck Clifton and their partners at Hudson River Films. (www.HudsonRiverFilm.org.) The film profiles some of the most progressive and intense offender retraining programs in the United States.

Before his death my oldest brother spent time in prison, so the film resonated in a very personal way. Would things have turned out differently if he'd been in a program that aimed to break the cycle of addiction? This morning I woke up thinking of my brother and started an essay on what it is like to love - and lose - a brother that was so troubled and troubling.

Oh - and Michelle and I met because we were both attacked by rabid raccoons. At the time I joked that it was a Republican plot to have raccoons attack liberal, artistic Democratic women. Life finds some funny ways of throwing people together.