Seven months have passed since I began my journey in Morgantown Federal Prison Camp. I am glad that I have a schedule that keeps me occupied and focused. A little over a year ago, my attorney guided me through a campaign to have family and friends write letters of compassion and support to my sentencing judge. Throughout the entire judicial process, asking so many of you to draft those letters was the most challenging thing task. Mentally drained and hyper-focused on my sentence, I was quite humbled and encouraged to have many close family and friends agree to write a letter. I also had very close friends either ignore my request or politely decline, which was absolutely good with me. I fully understand and respect the difficult ask that I imposed. I despised having to ask for anything let alone asking for these letters. I did not believe that I needed the judge to make a decision any differently based on a few letters written...would the letters even make a difference in my case?
My attorney assured me that the letters mattered on reducing a sentence (never a guarantee though). Online blogs and articles said the contrary. Yet, this exercise of asking people to say something positive and supportive of me, despite my plead of guilt for having violated three federal statutes surrounding money, completely challenged my soul - the core of my heart. I was ultimately humbled. If my attorney hadn't twisted my arm (almost to the point of breaking), I really would have not asked anyone. In hindsight, none of those letters seemed to matter, since my sentence remained the same as what the government requested, 78 months. Yet, these letters were so genuine, heartfelt, and very supportive - how could they have not made an impact. Often, I could not believe that I was reading such kind words. I know a few others really wanted to write a letter but were unable to pen something since it would've been a conflict of interest to their job, business, or just lack of truly understanding my situation...and I don't blame them at all. I am entirely grateful to so many of you for being able to write me those letters. The one person who really came to my aid was my attorney. He was moved by the letters as well and really believed what everyone said about me. I am not sure he fully understood me as a person, until he began reading the letters. He nearly memorized each and everyone over the course of preparing them for the judge to review. Unfortunately, I do not have those letters with me in prison, since I would certainly continue to re-read them when moments become long and difficult with coping with this temporary situation.
Now, back to what happened this week/end. We celebrated both Father's Day and Juneteenth with a hearty meal. The overly-fried porkchops were less than desirable, which is odd since most holiday meals are delicious. In addition to the porkchops, we had pickled collard greens, homemade baked beans (pretty decent), and a vanilla ice-cream sandwich for dessert (comically, the sandwiches had pictures of wrestlers on each side - I had John Cena and Macho Man lol each side tasted the same).
Summer is officially here! While the weather has been pretty decent, we did have a few rainstorms which added to the humidity. Yet, the weather has remained quite temperate. I hope all fathers, grandfathers, stepfathers, godfathers, expecting fathers all had a wonderful and blessed Father's Day and that everyone's weekend was filled with love, laughter, memories, and little miracles 🙂