Julie Chrisley's Letters from Prison (Part 1)
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Subject to credit approval. Terms apply. Welcome back to Unlocked. I am kind of excited for today. Kind of not. The reason being is because I have been sitting on all of these letters for forever over the past year and...

Everyone's been asking, "How's mom? How's mom?" And I've been trying to figure out like the best way to give you a very in-depth answer to that question.

And after speaking to mom, she was like, yeah, I'm fine with you sharing my letters that I've sent you. I'm fine with you giving people insight into this. So she gave me the permission to do this. And honestly, when I read them, it makes me so sad. But at the same time, it also gives me so much comfort just like seeing mom's handwriting and just knowing that like she touched it and she wrote it and everything.

When reading through them, some things will really make you laugh and then some things will definitely make you cry. Here we go and now we are off to the start of the Prison Diaries series. It starts on January 17th of 2023.

Mom writes,

We talked on the phone during his ride to Pensacola. I called one last time before I self-surrendered to the camp in Lexington. What a sobering thought. The man I had lived with, raised a family with, and loved more than life itself is now temporarily residing. See, this is what I mean. I'm like not even halfway through part one.

The man I have lived with, raised a family with, and loved more than life itself is now temporarily residing in Florida and me in Kentucky. My parents and the child that made me a mother, Chase, along with Chad, our dear friend, drove to Kentucky. I could not wrap my head around the fact that I was going to be separated.

from my husband and children for what seems like a lifetime. We turned onto the road that the prison is located, passing white vans with paparazzi in them. My family said their goodbyes and I walked into prison with nothing but the clothes on my back.

I was processed and left the building with a brown t-shirt, brown pants, and blue pull-on shoes. I had my blanket and sheet rolled up to bring with me as I walked outside past the rows of razor wire. A white van was waiting to take me to my temporary home.

Inside the van were two of the nicest ladies. Tab, who I later learned had been down over 20 years, and her partner riding shotgun was Leah. Tab would later become an inspiration as she handles life so gracefully and is our leader at church. I walked through the doors of what looks like an insane asylum, or maybe the school Matilda attended.

See, there we go. Julie always, you know, trying to crack some jokes. I was bombarded upon walking in. Many women introduced themselves to me. I was taken to my room named the Devil's Den, as it's known as the hottest room in the building. Man, is God playing tricks on me. Mom always hated being hot. Always. Especially like through her breast cancer and...

The just menopause, everything she was like, being hot was a no-go for her. So of course she would get put in the devil's den.

Man, has God playing tricks on me. As I walked in, there were four sets of bunk beds. I was shown a bottom bunk to the left. Several ladies helped me to make my bed. The Devil's Den was quite the mix of personalities. My bunkie was Noni. She was super nice to me and became a friend who I often played cards with. The other bunks were occupied by Erica and Engazi, Donna and Salt Lady.

And Cindy and April, more to come on the eclectic crew. My life has been condensed. My life has been condensed to a twin bunk bed, one locker, and a few books if you're lucky enough to have them. All right, so that was kind of mom's recap of that first day, like leading up until she got there. And then this is a letter that she wrote day one, 1-17-23.

I walked into the prison surrounded by razor wire. I was taken in to be processed. There was no strip search. I was given new panties, bra, large khaki pants, and a dark brown shirt. They gave me slide-on shoes. Thank God. The ladies have been incredible. From the two ladies who picked me up in the van...

Mia and Tabitha to Miss V who's been helping me all day. She got me toiletries, tennis shoes, more underwear. Literally the ladies have continuously given me things. Pajama pants, a cup, a cup for water, and someone even gave me a cherry Pepsi. Not my favorite, but it's a spot. I was invited to a church service where a bishop preached and then baptized one girl.

He knew me immediately. This service was amazing. Second Corinthians 5. Your setback is going to get you ready for your setup. How appropriate. While in church, Miss V came and tapped on my shoulder. She said they were working it out so Todd and I could communicate. God is working, about to observe a spades game. I've been told...

I've been told it's jailhouse spades. So that was on 1/17/23. And at the end, mom said that she was told that they were working it out so that she and dad could communicate. I think it wasn't until two months later maybe that they, two, three months that they got to email back and forth. But even to this day, and let's see.

February 20th of 2024, they still have not spoken on the phone to each other. Not a single word. Day two, 1-18-23. I can't believe it, but I already slept last night.

I got up at 6 to get in the pill line. I was then able to go to commissary. It's hurry up and wait a lot. I was able to get my necessities, Pepsi. I also got some sweats, which seems to be the most worn uniform around here. I realized how much I take for granted being able to walk in a store and get what you need. You have to write it down, stand in line, and then bring it to a window for them to ring you up.

Once I got back to my room, I realized everything I forgot. Luckily, I get to go again tomorrow since it's my first time. Lunch was hamburgers. Dinner was a fan favorite of chef salad. After dinner, we played spades. I played with Miss Bird, who came out of retirement to play with me.

They taught me "street spades." Not sure what that means. We won, which brought a little laughter. I had- I did have a hard time falling asleep.

I think everything is starting to set in. Finally fell asleep at around midnight. Day 3, 1-19-23. Up at 6 for the pill line, then I headed to the commissary line. I was able to get a watch, radio, some makeup, a brush, some hair gel.

I'm so excited because most of the family is visiting this weekend. I then had an EKG because of my family's history with heart health. Lunch was roasted chicken and sweet potatoes. I'm finally getting my space organized, which feels good. Going to do laundry tonight because you have to sign up.

My bunkmate just got back from work and we're going to play spades. I'm so happy that I'm getting to talk to my family.

I miss Todd so much that it hurts. I've never gone this long without talking to him. So apparently some crazy things have been happening and the security cameras all went down, so they're possibly canceling visitation. Today was my first breakdown. Praying tonight it gets fixed. My bunkmates are a gang of characters.

We've got a 66-year-old nurse practitioner who's quacky. Miss Donna is from North Carolina. She's country and rides Harleys. A young, tatted girl who just sleeps all the time.

Yes.

Going to find Miss Birds to play a game now. God, y'all. First off, this letter, of course, like has me in tears because this was the first weekend we were supposed to visit mom. And I remember her being so afraid they were going to cancel it. And I think the part that really hits me the most is I miss Todd so much that it hurts. Ugh.

It's that's tough because I still know to this day they haven't spoken and they've been together almost 30 years. It's heartbreaking to read it because I can just feel her hurt through these messages and to just think about how different life is now a year almost a year and a half later and

To just think that like, sure, there's some funny things in here. Mom's trying to make jokes, trying to make light of it. But like, this is her life now. And it's so different than obviously what it was before. And just the emotional aspect of it, of having to miss your family so much. And that's, it's so hard because, you know, I think about how much I miss my parents, but I couldn't imagine being them and not

not just missing one person, but you're missing your whole family. And that's been pretty tough.

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1:20:22. Got up bright and early to get my hair washed. I went down to the salon and Christian washed and styled it. I'm getting to see dad in gray today. I can't wait to see my baby. We've only had one real fight in our room so far. The salt lady stole Miss Donna's cup. It was a big deal.

This lady is crazy. I'm so excited to see mom tomorrow. We spent time together and then I sent them to eat at Malone's. I wanted them to have a nice dinner. Sunday, the kids are coming tomorrow and I can't wait. I'm missing Todd like crazy. So many people...

So many people know us here, so they're always talking about him, which I love, but it still makes me sad too. Day 5, 121-22. Mom and dad came to visit today. They were a little... Mom and dad came to visit today. They were a little late and I panicked. They got here at about 1130 and we had a great visit. I think mom was relieved when she saw that I was okay.

I was able to go to dinner after mom and dad left. Dinner's from 4.15 to 5.15, and they locked the door at 5.05 and locked me in there. There's this one officer that is so mean. It bothered me so badly that they waste so much food. They literally throw all the leftovers out, even if the girls want more. Now that is, and I can tell because like how short the letter is. I can tell what...

A hard day that was. And I will never forget my mom telling me about this correctional officer locking her in the cafeteria area. And thank goodness there was another girl that was with her that had been there a little while. So she showed mom, like, walked her back through the kitchen and downstairs so that they could get out because this guy was just so hateful and inhumane.

And to also think about how these women are starving and how we're so quick as a country to say, hey, let's feed this person. Let's give this away. Let's give that away. Let's take care of everyone. But we can't even take care of ourselves.

The people in our own system and the fact that you have these women who want more food, a lot of them don't have commissary because they don't have people who are putting money on their books on the outside. So they want seconds and the guards will just throw it all away or they'll go and pour grease. They'll pour the food in the trash and then pour grease all over it so no one can get it. And it literally just like breaks my heart to think that this is where my mom is.

is living but at the end of the day she's still cracking jokes day six 1 22 22 my babies made it today i loved seeing them and being able to spend time with them i love getting updates on dad it's so glad and when she says dad like she means my dad i loved getting updates on todd

I'm so glad that he's doing good. I can't wait to be able to email him. I went to dinner after they left. This part. The officer on duty, who's very nice, called me into his office and said that there was an article on page six about me and a male inmate at the other prison. This upset me so bad. There's absolutely no truth to any of it. These trash websites should be illegal.

I called the kids to make sure that they made it home safe and to say goodnight. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little sad. It makes me miss them so much. Hoping for a good week ahead. So the article that mom is referring to on page six was, there was an article that came out because obviously mom's at the camp, but there's an adjacent men's, I want to say it's like a medium security prison prison.

And there was that guy from the show Cheer went to prison for, I think it was like child pornography. And there was an article that said they had been like talking or like they had become friends and hanging out. And that was such a blatant just lie. Like there was, I mean,

the men and women don't even interact with each other. They're not even around each other. They're not even close to each other. And so the fact that page six could go out here and write such a bogus article just to get clicks is absolutely just sickening. And, um,

I still hold firm in what I've said before that journalism isn't journalism anymore and people should be held accountable and there should be more laws and structure around these things.

because all these people do is just hurt people and it's not okay. And two, I mean, they just do these things, write these bogus articles to make money. And the moment you click on it, they make money. So if it seems outrageous, it probably is. And keep freaking scrolling, please. Day seven, Monday, January 23rd, 2023. I took my first class and received my first certificate.

It was great seeing the kids and mom and dad this week, but I miss Todd so bad. I miss his voice. I miss being able to lay in bed beside each other. I miss my person. I called Chase in the middle of the afternoon, and gosh, I worry about my kids so much. I only talked to him for a minute and then followed it up with an email.

I watched out for Miss Bird. She had a colonoscopy and I swear Todd is in her body. She made it back safe and all was good. Even managed to play a game. Also went to A building for x-rays on my feet.

It makes me laugh because mom said that like, we've spoken about Miss Bird before and mom's like, I swear to God, like this is your dad. Like your dad is in this woman's body. And it made me laugh so much. Like so, so much. Starbucks iced apple crisp oat milk shaken espresso.

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Shop your coffee fuel needs at Walmart. Thursday, day 8, 1-24-23. I did not sleep well last night and then became very emotional this morning. Missing Todd, the kids, my life. I didn't get to start work today because orientation was rescheduled because I'm the only new one. I guess others are coming in this week.

I went to a church service tonight and then another 13-week Bible class afterwards. Hoping and praying I get to start emailing with Todd this week. Hoping tomorrow is a better day. Blood work at 9 a.m. I received so many books. I'm so grateful for my family and my friends. Wednesday, day 9, January 25th.

Things are going okay. I've emailed Todd several times. I can't wait for him to respond. I've spoken to the kids and mom and Faye. I can't wait for the weekend. Gray gets to see Todd and I see Chloe, mom, dad, and then Savannah on Sunday.

Gosh, how I look forward to those visits. My roommate is making banana pudding for a hundred of us for tomorrow. I miss cooking so much. I hope to hear from Todd soon. Gosh, every single letter is, I hope to hear from your dad soon. I hope to hear from Todd soon. I can't wait for his email. I can't wait. And it just, Thursday, January 26, 2023, day 10.

All seems to be better, though.

Friday, January 27th, Day 11. Woke up to snow this morning. It was just a dusting, but there were accidents everywhere. Officers and counselors were late. I had my first attorney call this morning. Alex still feels optimistic. I feel like it will be the end of the year before we know anything.

Praying God gives me the strength and grace to get through. Did my laundry today. Helped Ngozi crush vanilla wafers. She's making banana pudding for a hundred of us tomorrow. Can't wait to see Chloe, mom, and dad tomorrow. New girls are supposed to come in today. They say Jen Shaw is supposed to show up in the next two weeks. So that was the word around town.

that Jen Shah was supposed to go to mom's facility, but obviously she didn't. She ended up in Texas. So who knows? Could have been the truth. Could have been inmate.com. That's something that I've also learned is inmate.com is like the gossip that goes around. That's what they call it. But that obviously was not true. Saturday, January 28th, 2023, day 12.

Mom and Dad came to visit. They brought Chloe so I could spend some one-on-one time with her. It was a great day. I began teaching Chloe, Mom and Dad how to play spades. The first thing Chloe did was flick the cards. She said, "This is how Dad does it." I wanted to cry, but I didn't. We played Connect Four outside. It was nice being outside. I have kind of avoided it because of the press.

Saturday night was pretty uneventful. Looking forward to tomorrow to spending time with Sav. Keep praying my emails with Todd get better. So every time we would play cards at home and we did it a lot just in months leading up to it because we had just spent so much time at home. We always played spades and when dad would hold up the cards, he'd

Like, he would just, he would bluff a lot and he would just like flick his cards. He'd be like, one, two, three, four. Like he was counting how many he was going to win. And so when Chloe started flicking the card, it just, it's so funny what kids pay attention to, what they pick up on.

And then when mom says, keep praying my emails with Todd get better. It's because they kept delaying them. And I mean, they still do it. They'll delay them for four or five days. And then you'll have about 10 emails that come through at one time. So it's so hard to have an actual conversation with

when you're not getting the emails and you're not being, you're not able to respond at the time that that one's sent. So that I know that that's just been super, super tough for them. Sunday, January 29th, 2023, day 13. Sav arrived at around 11 a.m. It was so nice just to get to talk to her face to face. She's so strong and I pray for her every day. I kind of taught her

how to play casino. I'm still learning myself. Several inmates have had loved ones to pass. It's the saddest thing ever. I pray to God every day. I pray to God every day that I don't lose a loved one while in here. Some of the girls...

have been locked up so long that there's no emotion. They're so hard. I watched the football game the first time I have sat and watched it. I want to stay connected with Gray. That's why I watch. Praying for a good week ahead. Ugh. I remember going to visit. So they left the 17th. That first weekend, I went to dad. Uh,

This weekend, I went to mom and I just, that first month, I don't even know if I shouldn't. There's so much over the past year and a half of life that I just, I've done, but I don't remember. I think because that's such like a trauma response to things of just going through the day, getting it done, doing what you need to do and starting over the next day. I just, I remember going and sitting down with mom and I think it was so painful.

It was so hard seeing her that way, but just getting to hug her and touch her and it made everything so much better. I've also learned that one-on-one time is important, whether it's just me and mom or Chloe and mom or whatever it may be. So we try to split it up a little bit if we can. It doesn't happen too often, but we do try.

And I just, I don't know. I think when you have someone, when I, for myself, when I have someone like my mom, who is the strongest person that I know, to write a letter talking about how strong she believes that I am, I think that's just like an insane compliment. Because when I look at her, I don't really believe anyone could probably be any stronger than her. Day 14,

Day 14, Monday, January 30th, 2023. Monday was Monday. I had two classes, so that was good. I'm starting to observe the ladies in here. They're truly from all walks of life. There's a suburban mom who looks like she would live in Brentwood, casually talking about the time the needle broke in her arm, and rather than lose the dope she injected, she

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I pray that they succeed and don't return. I feel like the prison system is such a failure. These girls are begging for resources. That letter is everything that I literally have been preaching about for months and months and months about how these men and women are set up for failure and how they're not given the proper tools and we're not helping them

with therapy and breaking down their walls, figuring out their trauma, what's going on, and we're not investing in them to be better. And so they're begging for these resources. They're begging for help, but we're just not giving it because so many lawmakers are like, all right, these people, they're prisoners. They don't deserve, they don't have any rights.

When in reality, that is so far from the truth. Because at the end of the day, this isn't left or right. This isn't right or wrong. This is just about humanity and loving people and loving people well and giving them the tools to succeed so they don't end up back in the system. So it's just so heartbreaking that like this is how we treat people.

So the end of day 14, the first two weeks of what life was like in prison, and I guarantee you my mom definitely left a lot of things out. Now I know she left a lot of things out because she didn't want to worry me. She didn't want to scare me. And...

That was tough. That was tough reading back on these because frankly I read them one time when she sent them and I haven't pulled them out again because I just can't stomach to do so. So I'm gonna take a break, regroup, and then I will start back on day 15. Get ready because the letters only get more intense.

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