I have been writing to 2 chaps on Death Row in Alabama for the last 3 years.
I have no idea why I started writing to them but I must admit, I have learnt a heck of a lot from just listening to their life story's.
I was surfing the net while at work on night shift one evening and typed "Death Row" on Google. Check out this site. You get to see those who have and those who are about to be executed including their dates, their crime and a mugshot of them. [url]http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/deathrow.htm
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I know that they have taken a life or lives and deserve to be where they are but just get to know one and your whole attitude towards them changes.
The 2 guys I have been writing to committed their crimes as juveniles, were given the death sentence and left to rot for up to 8 years in a 7"/5" cell. Both of them have had their death row taken away, but now face the rest of their lives behind bars without ever having the chance of getting parole. Can you imagine how you would feel having committed a crime due to the way you were brought up and then having to live your entire life in a cell. The kind of conditions in which these guys grew up in are appalling.
I have been diagnosed as a Bipolar suffer and need to take medication for the rest of my life. There are days that I really don't feel like living. There are days that I over react to stupid things and become very irrational about silly things. I get very bored with myself but on the other hand don't have the energy to do anything about it.
Then I think of these guys sitting in a cell with nothing to do with all the time in the world to do it in!!
This in a way has become a little like therapy for me.
Think about it. We all feel down from time to time with the whole world at our finger tips. All these guys have are 4 walls!!!