The first thing that strikes me when reading these letters is how "normal" these men seem. Their letters are filled with humour, stories of childhood and tales of their everyday life on death row. Each one thanks me for taking my time to write to them and never before have a I felt so appreciated for such a small thing like writing a simple letter to a stranger. They seem genuinely greatful for the contact and the fact that somebody cares. I have received replies from 5 inmates and have since written back to them. Each of my pen pals has different talents, but they all seem trying to better themselves in some way. They write poetry or are trying to write novels or have learned an art like drawing or painting (I received some beautiful handdrawn and handpainted Christmas cards), some have turned to bible study courses. A couple are reaching out to the youths of today to try and show them that crime doesn't pay. The letters seem very honest and they all offer to answer any question that I may have. One asks that I do not ask about his crime, due to ongoing legal work, while another tells me about the crime, but says he is innocent of the murder, but guilty of being their at the time, not realising what was going to happen. I must admit in both of these cases, the evidence seems lacking to me, from what I have read, and I don't really understand why either of these men are on death row. A couple of the men have committed terrible crimes, but that is not something I wish to discuss in this blog, nor do I wish to question them about their crime, as the purpose of my writing to them was not to be nosy about their crimes, but simply to offer friendship and comfort to people in a horrible situation. One thing they seem to have in common is a troubled childhood, and drugs have been involved in many of the crimes (I certainly feel that the crimes are the result of drug-influenced situations that got out of control, rather than premeditated murders). None the less, that does not diminish the fact that there were victims in these crimes, and family members on both the victim and offenders side have lost love ones or are in danger of losing loved ones. One thing that strikes me is how far away from the prisons most of the families seem to live, so visits are infrequent, even from the family who does wish to visit. Those (as in the case of one of my pen pals) whose family have not forgiven them for their crime, or are angry with them, do not receive any visits and seldom get letters, so a letter from a stranger offering friendship means a great deal. One of my "pals" implied that my letters and offer of friendship was the answer to his prayers, when he felt ready to be able to communicate with someone, he prayed that God would find a penpal willing to write to him, and he feels that he has been blessed and that our friendship is a gift from God. One thing is certain, I feel truly humbled by the words of these men facing death, and I hope that I will be able to continue to write to them for many years to come.
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