The Truth

I forrige brevet mitt til L, spurte jeg ham om han hadde noen ord han ville jeg skulle poste på bloggen. Og det hadde han – er visst bare å forvente seg flere også – så jeg tenkte jeg kunne dele dem nå. Dette er virkelig et av de hyggeligste menneskene jeg har skrevet med. Så åpen, så ærlig… Jeg har egentlig ikke ord for alle tankene og følelsene jeg satt med da jeg leste meg gjennom de elleve sidene med tanker, meninger og forklaringer i går.

The Truth

I am writing this post at the request of my friend [Monika] who runs this blog. She felt that I might have some insight to offer that could inspire you to want to write to people like me. I don’t know about that; I just want to do things to make the world better. I believe that people like my friend can make things like this happen. A vision of something better and the will to take the first step is all it takes. She has this in spades. I feel privileged to be here at the beginning.

So you’re thinking of maybe writing to someone behind bars? I wanted to talk to you a little bit about what it entails to write someone who is locked up, tell you some about the joys and the pains, maybe give you some helpful advice. It’s the least I can do to repay the fact that I have found such a good friend myself here. Might take me a few posts though.

You should write to prisoners. The reason I say this is because I believe that each of you have something positive to offer these men and women behind bars. Your words of support and encouragement could be the ones that show them they do have worth. The fact is that most prisoners feel that you all in the free world couldn’t care less what happens to them. Knowing that maybe this is not totally true would be a balm over their own wounds. I know, difficult to believe that the people who do so much harm in our world could also have a wounded heart. It’s true though.

So what should you know before writing someone who is in prison? Good question! If you go to a web-site that has prisoner addresses, you will get a first impression of the person you will write. Most people write someone who is physically pleasing to them, however, if you look a little harder, you might find someone who can offer you more than you thought. You should not go in looking for something specific. Just look over all the pages and see what strikes you as the most interesting or intriguing. Most web-pages show that prisoners “are looking for love”. That is not bad in and of itself, you just need to know that. You can be selective, there are thousands of these pages on several different sites. If you want love, be sure you look close to your home; it’s easier that way. If you want friendship, be even pickier.

Always remember that the men and women you are writing are in prison for a reason. They did something that the law felt that they should be separated from society for. Be cognizant of that. My hope is that each of you who writes has a positive contact with an inmate. This bridge that is formed could be the catalyst to a new life for those behind the walls.

I will write again!