While people behind bars might have lost their freedom, they still have the right to feel that someone cares about them — even a complete stranger.
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I recently participated in a community service project and got to choose between planting bulbs, creating mother’s day cards and writing letters to people in prison.
I chose to write to prisoners. It felt like a good way to connect, though it was tricky coming up with things to say. It didn’t help that I have very little idea of what prison life is like, except what I’ve seen in movies like Shawshank Redemption. (I’m not complaining.)
We think that we face big issues in life, but few of them seem insurmountable when compared to daily life in prison.
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In trying to find common topics, I realized the basics were a good idea — hope, peace, comfort, promise, etc. Many of my correspondents mentioned hobbies they enjoyed like reading, listening to music, or fishing.
There was one very sad letter from someone who apparently was in the wrong place at the wrong time and unbelievably lost his mother’s love as a result. I discovered that not everyone in prison has committed a horrible crime.
I think of the three women who were kidnapped and kept in a house for ten years and can’t imagine what life for them involved. We complain about waiting in a grocery store line or having to get gas in cold weather.
We think that we face big issues in life, but few of them seem insurmountable when compared to daily life in prison.
I look at the three men on the news who were recently let out of prison after twenty years. Apparently the evidence, which showed another person responsible, was withheld at trial. They were convicted and served decades for a crime they did not commit.
Prison is hard enough if you’re guilty. How do you get back that lost time and freedom? I suppose you go on to live the rest of your life with as much freedom as possible.
The form letter that gave us ideas for what to write to our pen pals had a beautiful sentiment: “We commit ourselves to a world without cages.” I hadn’t considered that our prisons for people are like cages for animals. Frankly, I have always thought it seemed sad to shut away animals. Who gave us the right to lock up zoo animals primarily for our viewing pleasure?
Many of them will regain their freedom at some point. When they do, I hope they have had the opportunity to form emotional connections with other people.
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Yet, we still have prisons or human “cages.” In them are a fair number of people who have been disconnected from society. Many of them will regain their freedom at some point. When they do, I hope they have had the opportunity to form emotional connections with other people. Having a pen pal is a beginning. It can only help serve all of us going forward.
While people behind bars might have lost their freedom, they still have the right to feel that someone cares about them — even a complete stranger.
So the next time you peer over the thin metal fence separating your world from that of another, whether the beings held inside are human or animal, recognize that there may not be so large a difference between you and those who inhabit the world on the other side of the fence.
I’m curious. Would you consider becoming a pen pal to a prisoner who wants one? It has certainly been an enlightening, and enriching experience for me.
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Photo: Flickr/Nicholas Cardot