Visited one of my former students today who's serving a life sentence in a medium security prison in South Carolina.
At best, it's a dreary, somber, bleak place--what with all the razor wire lining the top of the fences, the stone-faced guards and the long faces of the inmates.
Some of them have been there a long time.
We shook hands, hugged and conversed in a a room about the size of a high school cafeteria. I counted 47 small tables, each with four chairs, set up in that room. Families (wives and parents of inmates) got to spend some precious time with their loved ones.
The former student I visited, who graduated from Winthrop in 1986, has been incarcerated in South Carolina, at first at a maximum security prison in Columbia and now in Kershaw County where he was recently transferred, for 20+ years. He's now 47 years old and is a leader in the prison ministry, I'm told. He's also earned a master's degree while behind bars.
He comes up for parole next year and I am hoping for the best for him.
At Winthrop, I remember him as a hard-working, focused young man.
I send him a Christmas card every year.
Today, however, was my first visit with him.
Life gets complicated and takes dramatic turns--sometimes for the worse.
We make mistakes or incur errors of judgment.
I think this guy has paid his debt to society.
I wish him the best.
And I cherish my freedom.
2 comments:
Interesting post sounds like an impactful experience. Debra
You are truly AWESOME Professor Timbs. I hope we stay in touch 20 years from now but away from bars, security guards, and prison issue clothing.
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