When I think about all the birthdays I have
spent in prison, I remember receiving some of the best gifts anyone can
give. The prison has always had very
strict policies about what is allowed in and in recent years restrictions have
grown even tighter. What sometimes amazes me is how people work around these
difficulties to share the most amazing things with me. One lady many years ago
bought me a star for my birthday, others send wonderful drawings and paintings
and many send photos from holidays or of their gardens in bloom. I love sharing
all of these things with my friends and supporters, the people who take those
moments to share a part of themselves with me.
Personal memories are the best kinds of gifts
shared, many people write with their happy recollections of events, it might be
a marriage or a birth or the day they passed their driving test or got their
degree. Others allow me glimpses into their every day life chatting as you
would over coffee and expressing their woes, or just sharing the events of the
day, moans about the latest parking fine they just received or details of their
new shoes. Some debate over moving house or worry about relocating from the
city to the country and sometimes I can allay fears over living in the rural
but quiet and picturesque villages or homesteads.
I receive often very emotional letters from
people who have lost family members in tragic circumstances or they have a
sister, mother or child suffering from a serious mental illness. I share in
their concerns; offer words of comfort and strength and most of all hope. Some
friends write letters from all over the world while they travel or from where
they live. Many are ex-pats and others of many different nationalities and it
touches me that they are so far away and yet have heard about my wrongful
imprisonment, which has moved them to write kind, supportive words and send a
birthday greeting.
Strangers confide their loneliness, a feeling
that is often all too real in prison, and I identify with the way they reach
out to me baring so many emotions. People talk about pain, illness and
suffering and in sharing together we find a salve. And soon strangers become friends;
they share the laughter in their lives, the comedy in their relationships.
Friends pen their hopes and dreams for the
future and talk about what we will do together once I’m on the outside. I’m
looking forward to sharing so many of the things you write about in person. All
your conversations in cards, letters and emails are welcome. So the next time
you write a simple card to me, or offer words of comfort and strength, remember
how much I appreciate these gifts even though they’re simple words, they’re so
much more than that to me.
Jeremy
