I plan on trying to bring the tradition back the way my grandmother had it once I get home.
I can’t believe how much I deprived myself of the world. For 15 years, the gang held a death grip on my life until I finally had the courage to break free in 2017. I have been out of the criminal element since then, living with my eyes wide open. I am living a pro social life. Now I am about real, meaningful change.
One of my sweetest memories is from Thanksgiving 2002, one of my last days of freedom. My grandmother was still alive, my children were small, and my whole family was together. We laughed, played poker, and enjoyed the wonderful meal my grandmother, the rock of our family, prepared. Life felt stress free, before prison consumed me.
My grandmother passed away in 2012. The tradition in my family is gone now because she was the rock. I plan to try to bring it back once I get home. I love my family, and I want to honor her by rebuilding the bonds that prison could not break.
