Every couple of days I will do a letter breakdown of all my favorite parts that I am willing to share. I will do more in the beginning to get caught up and then I will continue to do one when I receive something in the mail. To protect real names my man will be Bagherra, I will be Tinkerbell and our daughter Ariel. This was the first ever letter I received from him and I knew he was special instantly. The one quote I want to breakdown today is how he ended his letter.
"Tinkerbell I hope that this is the beginning of something special – a way to share thoughts, life experiences, good times and bad through simply pen and paper… "
I chose this quote because little did I know it would be exactly that... Something special. I remember opening my mail box for 2 weeks and losing hope he wouldn't write! Then finally exactly 14 days after I sent off my first letter I received a reply. I danced at my mail box. I have no shame in my ways, we must all remember that. Needless to say as soon as I started reading I was captured by the flow of his words and how up front he was about himself. It amazed me at how much he allowed me to know of him in the first letter. He explained how he grew up, the size of his family and how important they were to him. It spoke so highly of him that he holds his family above all else, the love he has for them shone through the whole letter, as if it was the easiest thing to write in the whole letter. Yes, my man is a gang member and yes, he has done some fxcked up things, but this letter and this quote proves they feel just as we do. We are all subject to our environment and we all make our own choices. He made his at a young age and will possibly spend the rest of his life in prison for this.
I must be honest here. When he wrote, nothing about his letter made him sound like a hardened criminal, like a gang member, or like a violent offender. It was like hearing from an old friend, someone you care for. Often we jump to conclusions and we judge people on appearance and past. Let's all face a hard truth, we all have something in our past we are not proud. Something that we wish we could lock up and hide forever. Us that realize our past is what made us whom we are today are strong enough to realize everyone eventually matures, grows and changes. Inmates are no different. Rocky paths, mistakes and truth are a part of life. Instead of judging we should embrace the fact that yes, our mistakes weren't putting a gun to someones head, BUT we know what it's like to have regrets, to learn and to grow from them. Too often many people are not willing to give a criminal a second chance. Someone out there gave you a second chance what's stopping you from doing the same?
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