A Family in Prison | Teen Ink

A Family in Prison MAG

January 28, 2009
By Anonymous

I was five when I watched my dad get led out of a courtroom in handcuffs and shackles. There were so many people moving around, I wasn’t sure what was really happening. One thing I did see very clearly and will never forget was the tear rolling down his cheek. That was the first time I had ever seen him cry. Almost 11 years have passed and I still remember that day perfectly. That was the last time I saw my dad outside prison.

Being young, only in kindergarten, I was frightened by this terrifying place. Surrounded by barbed wire and razor fences, I thought it was a horror house. That first visit was just the first of many times I’d go through the process of being frisked and walking through metal detectors.

That first time my family and I stepped into a large room filled with dozens of men wearing blue uniforms, I wondered if the other inmates’ loved ones felt the way we did. The convicts looked almost like clones – until I saw my dad. He looked much thinner and really frail. My mom started crying, and he came over and hugged her.

It felt so surreal, like I was dreaming. Now I can hardly remember my dad without his uniform. Some mornings I wake up and, for a split second, forget he’s not home anymore. Then it hurts even worse when I remember where he is and that my mom and I will never have him back.

It hurts to think of all the special memories my dad didn’t share with us. All the birthday parties and family vacations he missed. It’s one of the worst feelings in the world for a girl to know that her father won’t be there to walk her down the aisle.

While my sisters, mom, and I are out living life, Dad is in that horrific place every minute of his life, only getting to see his family one day a week. My mother and I feel so much pain not having him with us, but I can’t begin to imagine his pain and suffering every day in there.

We continue to hope for a miracle. My dad will be eligible for parole in 2023. We continue to pray that an innocent man will be freed from his life sentence for a murder he did not commit.



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This article has 234 comments.


HaleyHottie said...
on Aug. 30 2010 at 3:53 pm
Are you positive he didnt commit the murder? 

on Aug. 30 2010 at 2:31 pm
meganwagner21 PLATINUM, Old Bridge, New Jersey
42 articles 0 photos 139 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Sometimes good things have to fall apart so better things can fall together." -Marilyn Monroe
"Nobody can go back and make a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -Maria Robinson

my condolences to u & ur family. so presonal. great job. i hope he's freed

on Aug. 30 2010 at 12:27 pm
foreveroctober GOLD, Pompton Plains, New Jersey
11 articles 0 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life, he realized, was much like a song. In the beginning there is mystery, in the end there is confirmation, but it's the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile." - The Last Song, Nicholas Sparks

amazing story. i am so sorry. i hope everything will work out for you and your family. great job.

GaelicC said...
on Aug. 30 2010 at 11:23 am
GaelicC, Longford, Other
0 articles 0 photos 91 comments

Favorite Quote:
No -Rosa Parks

I feel so sorry for your Dad and the rest of your family. That is truely awful. Not the piece, the piece is brillant. What your family has to go through, that's what's awful.:(

Thing1 said...
on Aug. 30 2010 at 7:08 am
Thing1, Fayetteville, North Carolina
0 articles 0 photos 38 comments

Favorite Quote:
'If there is a book you really want to read that hasn't been written, then you must write it' ~ Toni Morrison
' Stupid is as stupid does' ~ Forrest Gump

thats really sad

on Aug. 8 2010 at 10:41 am
Gabriella.MM BRONZE, Underhill, Vermont
4 articles 0 photos 25 comments
im so sorry

on Aug. 8 2010 at 6:50 am
deus-ex-machina14 BRONZE, Stewartsville, New Jersey
1 article 0 photos 439 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There are two main tragedies in life. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it." -Oscar Wilde

The legal system is far from perfect. People go in all the time that shouldn't and people get let go all the time that should go in. I'm sorry and great job. Very well written.

on Aug. 8 2010 at 2:43 am
Future_author SILVER, Baltimore, Maryland
9 articles 0 photos 21 comments

Favorite Quote:
Some secrets can hurt, but sometimes they keep you safe, but all secrets are found out sooner or later.

thats sad. My dad's to nice to do anything.

on Jul. 17 2010 at 4:31 pm
writerinfinity PLATINUM, Arlington, Texas
35 articles 0 photos 105 comments
Wow, you really captured your feelings. I'm so, so, so, sorry about your father. I hope it all works out in 2023.

on Jul. 17 2010 at 1:58 pm
iluvnacho PLATINUM, Somewhere, Colorado
28 articles 1 photo 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
\"Find the beauty in the ugly\"-Jason Mraz 5-19-10
\"Be kinder than nessicary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.\" Unknown 11-29-10

I loved it. I hope you and your family see your father again. Wonderful piece

on Jul. 17 2010 at 12:15 pm
cavatina BRONZE, New York, New York
2 articles 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
thanks a lot captain obvious

wow this is an amzing peice of writing i am going through the same thing with my uncle best of luck to your dad and stay strong

on Jul. 17 2010 at 8:32 am
HOPEfully SILVER, Clayton, North Carolina
6 articles 1 photo 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
My Cinderella. She is real. She exists. I pray for her constantly. May God satisfy the desires of her heart, draw her close, consume her. May He claim her passions, her identity, her refuge, her hopes, her strengths and weaknesses -Adam Young

you really conveyed such bad events in a beautiful way. the best way to let out emotion is to write. thank you for sharing your emotions with us. I will be praying

shaniab SILVER said...
on Jul. 6 2010 at 3:09 pm
shaniab SILVER, Hawthorne, California
9 articles 0 photos 13 comments
Omgosh I am so sorry and that is Horrible i will wish the best for you and your family. Never lose Faith.

on Jun. 25 2010 at 5:20 pm
Drama_Queen13 DIAMOND, Nantucket, Massachusetts
51 articles 0 photos 108 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Live Life Like A Song."

This was absoultly beautiful, and I am so very sorry for you and your family. Let your father know hes in my prayers

on Jun. 25 2010 at 2:03 pm
JourneyWriter PLATINUM, Joliet, Illinois
21 articles 0 photos 58 comments

Favorite Quote:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

this is so unjust. i am so sorry. i cried when i read this. i'll be praying for you too. i'll be praying that God brings justice to this world and to your family. i cannot even begin to try to understand how you feel.

be in peace. because the one who made you will work everything out for the fulfillment of his plan. don't ever doubt that he has abandoned you. The Lord loves you dearly.


Zzzie SILVER said...
on Jun. 25 2010 at 1:48 pm
Zzzie SILVER, North Canton, Ohio
8 articles 0 photos 38 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Think positive, or I'll have to start singing."

I'm so sorry. I'll be praying for you!

Wounderfuly written, by the way.


on Jun. 25 2010 at 1:32 pm
Still_Waters26 SILVER, Ladysmith, Wisconsin
6 articles 0 photos 88 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We few, we happy few/we band of brothers/For he to-day that sheds his blood with me/Shall be my brother"
-Shakespeare, "Henry V"

wow, that's so sad and so injust for them to do that to your father.  Find a lawyer, this is so wrong.

Thrush BRONZE said...
on Jun. 25 2010 at 1:14 pm
Thrush BRONZE, Tegaad, Other
4 articles 0 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Live life to it's fullest extent, it's the only life you've got" "Enjoy yourself, be yourself, love yourself"

Gorgeously writen. I'm sorry you needed to write it. It's really good.

on Jun. 25 2010 at 7:37 am
musiclover123, ., Other
0 articles 0 photos 63 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature and everlasting beauty of monotony. <3

this was beautiful and im really sorry about your father

i wish you didnt have to write it...

take care <3<3


Betty said...
on Jun. 3 2010 at 9:59 pm
Betty, Annandale, Virginia
0 articles 4 photos 10 comments
this was beautifully written. this almost made me cry. i am so so sorry about your father. i hope the best for him and your family <3