Giving thanks behind bars?

In preparing an annual Thanksgiving prayer for our family dinner, I like to fall back on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s material. This year, as I read this simple verse, I think of persons living behind bars. 

 “For flowers that bloom about our feet;

 For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;

 For song of bird, and hum of bee;

For all things fair we hear or see,

 Father in heaven, we thank Thee!” 

The deal is, it would be pretty difficult to recite this little prayer while living in a cage, where you can’t smell flowers, can’t feel damp grass, and can’t hear the chirping of birds and the humming of bees. All stuff that we just take for granted. 

And yet, here in our office we receive words of thanks every day! With 50-100 messages arriving daily from behind bars, our team is wrapped in warm and fuzzy comments like these. 

“Thanks again for all your help. Make sure you give a special thanks to all the volunteers at HFP for me.” 

“Thank you for data provided by your complex searches. Because of HFP, I have been able to change my life for the better mentally and spiritually.” 

“Thank you GREATLY for the work HFP does for us.” 

“Thank you! I received my clothing today from the Quartermaster. God Bless! 

“I just want to thank you for those kind words ‘you matter.’ That means so much to me.” 

“Thank you so much for the prompt response re my eye glasses. you made this old man very happy!” 

“It inspires me to want to help others as you have helped me. Thank you once again!" 

In addition to many nice comments, this week I mailed out four personal thank-you notes to prisoners who made financial contributions to HFP. For our gang, this is the ultimate compliment! Residents of our prison system are not wealthy people, and their wages are puny. Expressions of financial support from inmates have been overwhelming this year, and for that WE are thankful! 

In conclusion, as we observe Thanksgiving, 2021, I just want to add a personal note. Since I started HFP 20 years ago, I’ve discovered that some of the nicest people I know are incarcerated. I’m thankful for their friendship! Because of them, Thanksgiving means more to me today.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that ...
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w...
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to c...
Read more