Each time I drove the five-hour trip to the Dwight Correctional Center, Rebecca Bivens was on my mind. Becca, as she was called, was found guilty-but-mentally ill for the murder of her five-year-old step-daughter. The fact that she had been diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder grabbed my curiosity. As an investigative journalist, IContinue reading “Fish Heads in an Open Bag”
Category Archives: Cherry Blossoms & Barren Plains: A woman’s journey from mental illness to a prison cell
From hairy legs to nose hairs.
I’m sitting in my office listening to Eric Clapton belt out some cool sounds. Steady rain outside. Springtime trying to make its way into summer; that’s what is happening in southern Illinois. I’m drinking some wine, looking at my legs while I sport a pair of summer shorts, and evaluating my body’s transition into oldContinue reading “From hairy legs to nose hairs.”
Heart of Darkness: physical & sexual abuse
News release: An NFL player hurls his fist into the side of his finance’s face. Down to the floor, that’s where she fell – out cold, like a dead fish on a frozen shore. Man wanted sex, wife refused. Man head butts wife, broke her nose, punched her in the face, and threwContinue reading “Heart of Darkness: physical & sexual abuse”
A phone call from a prison cell that houses the mentally ill.
Just talked with a friend who happens to be in prison for allegedly killing her five-year-old stepdaughter. No, we weren’t talking over a cup of coffee at the local coffeehouse where we met and greeted each other with a hug, followed by a “how are you doing?” It was another telephone call from a prisonContinue reading “A phone call from a prison cell that houses the mentally ill.”
Fish heads in an open bag — listening to the mentally ill.
MThese are excerpts taken from my second book, “Cherry Blossoms & Barren Plains: A woman’s journey from mental illness to a prison cell.” I have drawn from the chapter called Fish heads in an open bag. Becca, the subject of my book was serving sixty years for allegedly killing her five-year-old stepdaughter. *** I have listened toContinue reading “Fish heads in an open bag — listening to the mentally ill.”
A soul-sucking depression
It was a cold, fall day. Red weathered Maple leaves were on the ground. Becca and I were sitting in the visit room at the Dwight Correctional Center where she was serving a sixty-year sentence for allegedly killing her five-year-old step-daughter. Becca still does not remember committing the crime, but believes that she did becauseContinue reading “A soul-sucking depression”
To the mentally ill who have no voice. Please listen.
After visiting family in Wisconsin, a place where cold people have warm hearts, it is good to return to our home in Southern Illinois. I have been thinking about what my next blog would be. The answer became clear while I was surfing over the internet and discovered a blog that grabbed my attention. BecauseContinue reading “To the mentally ill who have no voice. Please listen.”