Teaching communication means getting people to tell their stories， but Ray could tell you how much he missed playing his guitar without speaking. Sometimes he moved his hands across the air as if he were playing his favorite blues scale. He always gave me a slight nod when he saw me come into the chapel for the meeting. He loved sharing his guitar stories. Although he had been an inmate at Gander Hill for over a decade， he always had a song in his head， in particular one that he said he had been writing in his mind since his arrival. He looked forward to playing again the way a child counts the days until summer vacation.
When my group formally established itself at Gander Hill， the men were allowed a night of celebration to which they could invite one or two family members. The night of the celebration was just like Christmas for them. They huddled with their loved ones， whom they had not seen or touched in several months or longer. Since his family lived in Texas， no one came to the celebration as Ray' s guest， but he waited patiently for me to arrive. As he rehearsed his song in his head， I walked into the prison with a guitar.
Ray tuned that guitar as if he were putting his life back into harmony. I have never heard a guitar tuned like that before or since. He looked at me over his shoulder and nodded a thank-you before bringing his song to life on the guitar. I watched Ray' s fingers dance across the strings as if they were himself， running free. And for those few moments， he was.
到1993年春天，我已騙去過甘達爾山監獄好幾次了。這個時候，我見到了雷。父親帶領一個小組在那裏教授犯人們學習交流和說話的技巧。我是一名大四的學生，言語交際是我的主修課。後來，我在甘達爾山組織了自己的學生誌願小組。
教授怎樣交際就得讓他們講述自己的故事，然而雷不用任何言語就能告訴你，他是多麽想彈吉他。有時候，他的雙手在空中飛舞著，就好像他在彈奏著他最鍾愛的布魯斯曲調。每次他看到我走進小禮拜堂組織集會的時候，都會衝著我輕輕地點點頭。他很高興能夠有人分享他的吉他故事，盡管在甘達爾山監獄已騙住了十幾年，可是他的頭腦中騙常回**著樂曲，尤其是那首他說剛進來時就在他頭腦中寫好的歌。他盼望著能夠再次彈奏吉他，仿佛孩子在一天天地數著，巴望著暑假快快到來一樣。