Mothers roles in Prison Sanity

This tuesday, July 22nd, I took a tour of Perry Correctional Institution for a course I am in. This is considered a medium/high security prison. Before we could begin the tour we were given quite an intimidating introduction. First, there were a set of rules such as where our hands should be, not talking, no communication, in a line, and girls between the guys. The part that blew my mind was our tour guides were five of the inmates in there.
After first hand experiencing their lack of privacy and freedom, we were asked to sit down and talk to the inmates and ask them questions. They began by introducing themselves (first name bases only due to security purposes) and telling us their crimes and life history. I was dumbfounded as one of then was in for murder, another for drug trafficking, another for attempted murder, and others. These people have been here for atleast 9 or more years and have many more to go.
What broke my heart is the way they talked about their mothers being their best support. Fathers were included in these conversations, but some of them were in jail themselves. Most of the mentors were mothers or other motherly figures. One of them even mentioned, "My girlfriend, my friends (homies), the cars, the house, the money does not come visit me here and will not be there when I get out, but my mother will."
I just wanted to take this oppurtunity to thank the mothers of the world and women in general. They will never give up on their children, no matter what. I also want to mention that this love and dedication is what keeps the inmates going with a ray of hope. So keep it coming; it might help us make a better society...