Remembering My Mentor

Joel Kellogg...

He hummed, he hawed, and he laughed! 
Joel was the first Corrections Officer I ever met.
He took me under his wing and taught me the ways of the prison.
They were all his ways, according to him.
He never lit the cigar that perpetually hung from the corner of his mouth.
But that stogie would slowly disappear as he chewed it and hummed a tune only he could recognize.
Joel was a tough old bird who had a hidden soft side, that I only knew.
When he was surprised he could raise an eyebrow above his receding hair line, which was a neat little trick.
I learned early on to watch out when both brows were raised.
I am glad he got to enjoy life after corrections. Something we all deserve!