Food. Thieves. Work. John.

Dad finally gave me a call on Thursday morning for the first time since his incarceration (kidding!)... We chatted for about 45 minutes, which was great!  Overall, he was one big bag of complaints... But if you know Billy - They were "good" complaints, not bad ones.  All joking aside (for at least one sentence), he told me that this is the hardest thing he's ever had to do... That there are all walks of life, nothing is fancy and he is still struggling physically (although better than he was).  Here are some of the highlights of our conversation:

1.  He sleeps in a room "with about 5o-thousand other guys farting, snoring, burping and coughing all night long" and has contracted the "permanent plague" from this.  Hallie's translation - Hugh said there were 27 guys, and this is the temporary first step of housing... He will soon move into a room with about 6 men, then work his way down.

2.  He can only shower "every other day because there are 4 showers for all the men in his dorm."  Well Dad, you're not running marathons, so I'm sure that's sufficient!  

3.  "People steal stuff all the time" - He says since they're only given 3 meals a day and nothing else, you must provide your own coffee, coffee cup, creamer, sugar, snacks, etc - Said he finally got his hands on a coffee cup and it was gone about 5 minutes later (& a devotional prayer book only lasted 3 min).  Hallie's fix - Mailed him a hot pink coffee mug (along with some other yummy goodies)!

4.  "You should see the people here - They are covered from head to toe with tattoos!"  Hallie's response - "Dad, Hugh said you really liked the people there...?"  Dad - "Oh yeah man, they're all really nice & completely harmless!"  Point.

5.  Job - Hugh hooked him up with "the best job that anyone can get at The Foundry"!  He is working in the business office, making phone calls to corporations/businesses to acquire donations (monetary or stuff).  Anyone feel like donating??  After 3-4 months (I think), he'll start to make commission on the donations that he brings in.

6.  Esophagus - Well, it's either "the baby jesus" or the "eat or don't eat" working their magic, but his throat hasn't been giving him trouble lately!!  Yay!

7.  He told me that he "hasn't had the opportunity to dive into the religious aspect of the program yet, but he was starting towards that"... Hugh set him up, once again, with the best counselor on staff, who he has met with once and assigned him homework - To read the entire Book of John, and write a report.  Go Billy!  

That's about all I can recall for now!  He really sounded committed to the program, and even talked about what he was going to donate from his personal belongings... 

Try and update y'all again soon!  Love, Hallie

THE FOUNDRY!

Joanie Jesse Hallie Erin Tyler (Jesse's Brother)

Well folks... He finally did it!! He checked into The Foundry on Tuesday morning (Eddie & Tina drove him, thank you!), and has been there a whole 2 days now, and counting...

As you all know by now, Hugh Thomas is on staff at The Foundry and is being wonderfully accomodating to help Dad settle in as comfortably as possible. Dad no longer has his cell phone, nor does he have phone access right now... BUT I spoke with Hugh yesterday evening, and he actually told me that dad said that he “really liked the people that he’s met there so far” – which is a great admission at such an early stage in his recovery! Hugh has checked on him a bunch of times when he has been surrounded by a group of guys - chatting or helping him out! He did have to go to the ER the very first night (of course!) because of his heart (probably nerves), and then The Foundry doc saw him yesterday & tweaked some of his meds, so maybe that will help physically (who knows!). They are supposed to maybe call me today from Hugh’s cell phone – I’m keeping my eye out.

Before he checked in he told me that he was "convinced that the medical field could no longer help him, so he was turning things over to the Baby Jesus..." - Go for it, Dad! Per his G.I. doctor, he does need a full esophagial replacement... Ugh... But he's not interested in that right now, he's going to see what happens at The Foundry first - The surgery would first entail me applying for programs at UAB and/or Cooper Green hospitals, as the surgeon at SV unfortunately does not do that surgery.

I will keep y'all updated (yeah right, Hallie!) on how to reach him, but for now you are all more than welcome to send words of encouragement to the following address (and please refrain from sneaking pills or alcohol into your letters... kidding...):

Billy Pierce
c/o The Foundry
P.O. Box 824
Bessemer, AL 35021

And on a different note - Joanie Thomas (Hugh's daughter of course) came to visit me in LA last weekend and WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! I just LOVED having her out here, and we did all kinds of stuff... Hollywood, movie stars homes, shopped, fancy dinner, you name it...! I wish I could have just kept her out here in my pocket... :)

Love y'all! Hallie