Tag Archives: Live in the moment

I am more thankful than words can offer for the year I had with my son in the aftermath of his incarceration. Having been deprived of family, he was trying so hard to reconnect with each of us and in that sense he was in a very real way our benefactor, or at least he was mine.

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I’ve intentionally avoided any detailed discussion of a life in prison. My son told me stories; stories I wish I didn’t know; things better left unsaid; things that demonstrate our justice system is anything but just. But a reality of prison life that bears on this part of his story is the violent nature the system breeds. Continue reading →

“Hello?”

“Dad; it’s Tim.”

“Hi, Tim. It’s good to hear from you. How are things? Any progress on welding school?”

A catch in his voice.

“Well, that’s why I’m calling.”

“What’s wrong?

“I was all set. Mom had signed me up for this really great VoTech school. One of the best programs in the state. I was supposed to start in two weeks.”

“What happened?”

“I…”

Silence.

“I couldn’t pass the background check. I was rejected because of my felony convictions.”

These are the moments they don’t tell you about. The moments after prison when someone is simply trying to move forward and rebuild his life, but begins to experience the harsh aftermath. Like the aftershock after a terrible earthquake, the fragile constitution of a life is yet again threatened by the obstacles that inevitably beset the future plans of the prisoner, reformed to fit his current station. Continue reading →