A man in solitary confinement for nearly a year receives a letter from his father warning that his parents may not survive his sentence. The message forces him to confront what he needs to change to earn parole and become someone safe to release.
Chapters
As I sit in solitary confinement for almost a year, I knew at some point something has to give. I'm sitting there reading books, spending my time in a dark cell, very low lighting, and suddenly an envelope come beneath my door of my cell, and there's a letter from my dad. And as I opened the letter in shock, 'cause I don't get letters from my dad. I typically get letters from my mom. And as I read this letter, The words that I read from my father's pen was this: Son, you're locked away where we don't have access to you. We've called prison officials, we've tried to get in contact with you, so I'm sending you this letter. And son, if you don't change your ways, if you don't figure a way out of this lifestyle, your mom and I may not be alive when you finally get out of that place. Let that sink in for a minute, because here it is. I had a— I have a time to really think, how am I going to respond to this? What are going to be my words to my dad? Change. Change. I have to change. I have to figure out what am I going to do with myself. You've been given a life sentence in the state of California. You have to go before a parole board to be considered suitable for parole, to no longer be a risk to public safety. No longer be a risk to public safety, folks. Anybody can change.
