family
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When my loved one first told me that the prison keeps $150 from an inmate’s account for a body bag, I laughed and asked, “Why? Do they expect inmates to leave that way?” The more I learn about the correctional system, the more I understand why that policy exists. Deaths in custody happen more often…
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There’s a particular kind of fear that lives in a parent who is incarcerated, the fear of not being able to protect your child. It is not abstract. It is constant. You don’t know who they are around, what they are exposed to or whether they feel safe. you cannot show up if something goes…
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The Parts I Don’t Say Out LoudThere are things I carry that I don’t always talk about.Not because they don’t matter…but because putting them into words makes them feel too real.People think the hardest part of this life is the distance.And yes, the distance hurts.But what hurts more is everything that comes with it, the…
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I have become a single mother overnight, not by choice but by circumstances. Suddenly, you are left to navigate and build life all by yourself. No more shared dreams, only shattered ones. I am being pulled in so many directions with no one to share the responsibilities with. I hear people talk about being a…
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We hear a lot about life on the inside. The routines, restrictions, loss of freedom. What we do not talk about nearly enough is life on the outside, the sentence families serve without ever standing in a courtroom. For years, I was one of those people who believed, “Well, if you do the crime, you…
