I live my life like a ghost. The less notice that’s paid me, the better I feel – especially when it comes to this place.  I’ve actually had correctional officers ask me, “When did you come back?”

I tell them I’ve never left, and they sadly shake their head, telling me they haven’t seen me in a couple years.

That’s why I’m still here…

I made a horrible, reactionary decision, and I take responsibility for it.  I did it, and I’ve made changes in my life.  I’ve learned that no matter the situation – I will seek guidance and help, turn the other cheek, and walk in the other direction.  My horrible decision cost me 25 years of my life, my family, my friends, my possessions, and most importantly, someone’s life.

I can’t change what happened.  If I could, I would – NOT because I would have avoided this pain, but because no one else would’ve suffered.

I’m not a bad person. I’m a good person, and I made a horrible mistake.  The system is full of people like me.  I’ve met them, I’ve talked with them, I’ve eaten meals with them and cried with them.

I support law enforcement and the justice system.  I support victims’ rights and advocacy groups.  But an eye for an eye approach doesn’t remedy the hurt.  For the ‘over incarcerated’ it only adds to the heartbreak.  It doesn’t make anyone safer. It breeds despair, racial tension and frustration.  It overburdens an already overpopulated prison system and makes rehabilitation next to impossible.

Instead of letting go harmless, old convicts whose criminal careers ended decades ago, the parole system releases and tracks younger, criminals, who have yet to learn the lessons of life.  They let these offenders go only to have them return three or four times.

It’s been proven time and again that older convicted felons are less likely to reoffend, especially when they’ve done long stretches of time and have shown repentance for their crimes and have maintained a disciplinary free life while incarcerated.

I’ll show you it’s true…  Let me go.  I’ll show you what a good person who has made a terrible mistake can accomplish.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.  Shipwrecked and found.  John is currently doing a two-year set off, after 25 years of incarceration.  He is a frequent contributor as well as the author of Life Between The Bars, a unique and heartwarming memoir.  John can be contacted at:
John Green #671771
C.T. Terrell Unit A150
1300 FM655
Rosharon, TX 77583