Author Archives: Eric Okdeh

We are only warehousing prisoners. There is no real effort on rehabilitation. One in every 100 in America in jail. We need to focus on prevention of problems instead of paying $60,000 a year to incarcerate. My sister is in prison, everyday my mom cries. She will die before her daughter gets out. Very sad for all of us. I have not visited her yet, there is still anger, shame, stigma, and disappointment. Very sad for all of us.

No, I do not visit my uncle, because I like to stay focused on matters that are important, and HE made that decision to be there.

These facts leave me with a lot of negative feelings. Makes me look upon my own childhood and the many instances that could have led to my demise. My mother is incarcerated, I do not talk to her. Adopted at 9, still scarred, but never held down by the weight or pain. I do not visit, I do not wish to reopen those wounds as life is finally good to me.

It takes time… To write to them, To listen to them when they call, To take half of the day to visit, Its costly and affects our budget gas to visit and money for food.

One area that should be decriminalized is drug use. People in general should realize that there but for the grace of God goes I. Those who are hurting, hurt people and themselves. We are all sinners in a fallen world. The one and only hope in or Lord God. My brother is incarcerated and I always have underlying sadness. I dont visit as often as I should because it gets me depressed. Then I feel guilty because of Matthew 25 in the bible.

I am a single parent and its just sad that we are losing our children’s fathers to prison society and our children have to suffer. Most of the fathers are good supporters, but make wrong decisions on how they support, and be a role model for their children.

Having an incarcerated family member makes me appreciate my freedom, and value family. Because you never know when you can lose them to jail, and/or death.

My future husband and poppy to my grandchildren is incarcerated. His pre release date was never fulfilled, we were all looking forward to that date, Now here it is a year later and he’s still not home, It sucks. We visit because thats his only way to get to see us, this system gives us no other choice.

Having an incarcerated family member impacts my daily routine, due to the fact that I am the sole provider for my household, that I have lost the one person I can depend on, and the hurt of missing him and watching my grandchildren miss him is hard. Everything falls on my shoulders. Sometimes it seems as if I am carrying the weight of the word alone. But through it all God continues to bless me because there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that is a hope that I can look forward to him returning home soon one day. So I am not complaining because I know that is not the case for as many others who will never see freedom, or be with their families again.

Incarceration on families involves some heartache, shattered images of each other, and hopefully (if all parties work really hard) rehabilitation and new beginnings for reentry; building strong relations back up with family members and loved ones too.

I grew up dealing with a father that went in and out of prison most of my life, and now my little cousin is looking at a life sentence. Everyday is a constant reminder that my cousin is sitting in prison, and cannot be there for our family. He misses happy and sad occasions, and is able to see his son grow up. I’ve been to see my cousin and I will continue to go because people in jail need to be reminded that there are people on the outside still care and love them.

My father is in federal prison. It doesn’t affect me because my father was never in my life. But I’ve visited my uncle and my father. I visit people in prison because I know how it is to be in prison and have no one.

My son is incarcerated and we as a family love and miss him terribly. We long for his presence, he has 2 children that need him. We visit as a family as much as we can.

Knowing they are existing in hell means we are all existing in hell

I have a family member that is incarcerated and he is the father of my kids, and I too have been incarcerated. It was hard for me to put money on his books and to take his son up there to visit him.

Having an incarcerated family member makes me feel like I’m unsure of what might happen. I never feel safe. I don’t visit because I don’t want to see him in there. Too many raw emotions come out. I don’t want to upset him.

Having an incarcerated family member is difficult because we have to take care of him financially and it is hard bringing the kids and having to explain what jail is. It’s hard watching loved ones die and he cannot be here. I have to visit because I don’t want him to feel lost or alone. I want him to have hope.