"Oh my gosh - Hannah, is that you?!," Brenda bellowed from across the cell block. "Girl, I haven't seen you since junior college. Come give me a hug! Is today your first day?"

Hannah awkwardly shuffled in her chains toward her old friend. Despite her embarrassment, she was relieved to see a friendly face on what was otherwise the worst day of her life. "Oh, God, I am mortified," she whined as she leaned in to accept her old friend's embrace.

"Nonsense, hun! You have nothing to be embarrassed about," Brenda reassured. "All of us are one poor decision or unfortunate circumstance from being in your shoes. The guards all understand that, so we don't treat women any different just because they happen to be locked up."

"What shoes?," Hannah joked, gesturing down toward her bare feet.

"Pardon the expression," Brenda giggled. She moved in behind Hannah and ran her fingers through her hair to soothe her. "It really isn't so bad here," she told the scared new inmate. "Nothing like what you see on TV. In fact, a lot of inmates find incarceration to be relaxing. Just try to relax and enjoy the fact that you don't have to make any decisions here. Everything is handled - from the outfit you will wear to what you will have for dinner."

"And we don't even have to wear shoes," Hannah added with a chuckle. "Never cared much for footwear anyway." Hannah took a deep breath and began to calm down. "I'm so glad I ran into you," she told Brenda. "Would you take a picture with me? This will make for a great story with the old girl gang when I get out."

"Of course!," Brenda exclaimed. Enlisting another guard to serve as photographer, Brenda posed for several pics with her old friend.

"Would you like me to show you to your cell?," Brenda offered when they had finished taking pictures. "I'm off at 8, but I'll hang around so I can check in on you at lights out - that first night is always the hardest."