A Convict Christmas

I am blessed to do my time alongside the men you see listed on this shout out.  To the parents and spouses of these men, I hope you are proud of your loved one.  These are the men making the choice to change their lives for the better.  Your loved one took the time to do this especially for you this year.  Merry Christmas!  

We may wear the blues, be we don't feel them!  Please scroll down and find your loved one and their shout out! 

Dad & Terry,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!  I just want to say thank you for being there for me.  I've done a lot of bad things over the years that have hurt you both.  It's time for me to break out the first aid kit to clean the wounds so they can heal.  Most importantly, I am healing myself by keeping my relationship with God and making it better and better every day.  Love you both.

Your Son, James

Lynne, Larry & Terri,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year that's filled with holiday cheer!  Since I couldn't be home to give gifts and pretty glitter, I'll send something that will last forever....X's and O's, which don't need bows, and all my love.  I miss and love you all so much.  It's your hearts filled with joy I hope to touch.  I couldn't do this without all of you!  Thank you each for everything.

With Love, Ran

Dear Mom & Pop

The holidays are here and even though I'm not able to be home, I thought I would take this time to tell you that I appreciate everything you do.  We have been through a lot and the holidays don't make it any easier.  Holidays are rough, but should be filled with joy and happiness and the love of our family.  I love you both with all my heart and thank you both for being here for me through this holiday.  I will be home soon.  Merry Christmas!

Love, Joey

Mom, Merry Christmas.  To my three sisters and three brothers, I wish each of you much happiness.  I have missed the last six, but I'll be there in four more!  Thank you all for making this journey with me.  Dad, happy birthday and Merry Christmas.  Two birds, one stone.  :)  Last, but not least, my lady, I am a better man because of you.  You complete me.  I am blessed you can watch from a safe distance and I can correct my wrongs.  I love you all.

Hugs & Kisses, Michael

Hey Ma,

Just wanted to wish you, Kevin and the rest of the family a Merry Christmas.  I wanted to thank you for never giving up on me no matter how bad I screwed up.  Ma, you're my rock and I love you very much.   To my brothers and sisters, I love you and miss you guys.  Dawn & Rick, even though I know you hate me for what I've done, I love you anyways and miss my big siss.  Maybe one day you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.  I'm truly sorry.  Tell Matt I'm proud of him.  Katie, congrats and wish her well and thank God she didn't marry some guy like her uncle!  And tell Yon thanks for the Mountain Dew, hot food and the showers!  Thank you to Megan too!  Murph, love you bro and hope Jen is feeling better.  Marc, Erin and Tara, love you guys and drop me a line if you're so inclined.  Marc saw a picture of you and Bradley with the Mountain in the back...man you gotta take me fishing there!  Kevin, thank you for always taking the time to help me with my van or working on anything really.  You've always been a good dad and grandad.  I love you all and hope to hear from you.  Try not to kill each other at Christmas dinner!!  And, of course, "poop" you're my number one son.  I love you!

To Kim,

I know you wish we could just be together this Christmas, but just know I love you and I will be thinking of you.  Just think of all the nights we kept each other warm and know I'll be home soon.  Just keep the faith. Thank you for loving me when I didn't love myself.  I will always keep you close to my heart.  I know these next few years will be tough, but love is eternal.  (Corinthians 13:4-8)  I love you and hope this makes you smile.

Love Always, Pat

Well.....the high holidays are here once again.  A time that should be shared and spent with family and friends.  While that may sound easy for some it's definitely not the case for all (myself included).  Mom, no matter what you might think of me, you will always be my hero!!!  I love you and wish you a happy holiday.  Jennifer....wow!!  What can I say?  All these years and you chose to stay by my side....actions, baby, always were louder than words to me.  :)  Thanks!  It seems like only yesterday you were knocking on my door with your suitcases.  The love I had in my heart for you then has grown into something words on paper can't describe.  Now, love, trust and respect are key elements that has helped form our relationship.  I'm proud of you baby girl.  Keep on keeping it real!!!  And, of course, to all of you who keep this site up and running....much love and Happy Holidays!  To you and yours, thank you Michael and Brooke for making this possible for guys like me that just don't want the ones we love to forget.  Because being incarcerated does not have to mean that we are lost and without love.

Always, The Rabbi
P.S. Today's Mitzvot {Psalm 25}

Dana & Cloud,

I wanted to take this time to wish you a very happy holiday and a bright New Year!  You are doing such a great job with our daughter and I am very proud of you.  To my little princess, Cloud, I want to tell you how much I love our phone conversations and how sweet of a little person you are.  I love you very much.  Keep up the great work in this upcoming year!!

Your friend and father, Benoit
XXXOOOXOOXX

To my sister Sandy,

Thank you for always being here for me and your shoulder I'm always leaning on.  You are an awesome mom to your kids, daughter to our dad and to me the best sister ever.  I love you and will be coming home soon!

Your brother, Benoit
XXXOOO  

Mom,

I want to thank you for all you have done for me!  Others I want to bring in a New Year and tell ya, I'll be home soon.  To ease your stress and burdens and I love you very much.  Hope we spend many more years together,

Love your son, Dave

Susan,

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas!  I hope you got all that you wished for this morning as you opened your presents.  I love you and I thank you for all that you do for me.

Love you everyday, Randy

I want to wish my family a Merry Christmas and let you all know what you mean to me.  It's not easy to show someone you care when you can't see them.  Thankfully this will be the last Christmas without you.  My daughter Kelsey, if you somehow see this, I know we haven't talked in a few years.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of you and miss you.  I can't wait to see how big you are.  Happy holidays to Rave Fields.  Thanks for being there for me and I hope everyone has a safe holiday season.  I will be home soon.  Leave a light on...

Love, Ricky

Hey Mom,

Merry Christmas!  This hasn't been a great year for the family.  Too many deaths.  First Tony, then grandpa, even the damn family cat.  All of them were much too young to leave us.  Let's hope that next year will be brighter.  It WILL be brighter because I have only one more Christmas and one more birthday away from the family and then I'm home!!!  It's hard to believe it's been so long already.  Merry Christmas, happy holidays and here's to a great New Year!

Love, Jay

Grammy, Aunty, Mom, Dad, Chad, Kirt, Derike, Keven, Katy, Jonny, Jodi, Jecht, McKayla, Stan & Jaydi,

I miss you and love you all!  Wish I could be there for the holidays. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

God Bless, Craig

Dear World,

I would like to say I love you and wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas.  To my son, Brandon, enjoy everything.  To my heart, Linda and Grandma, I thank God for you two.  To Flaca, Tia Barbie, And, Mindy, Steven, Andrew, Chris Raymond, Tim, Cindy, Euos, Aunt Liz, Denice, my brother Derek, Joey, my momma, Nate, Beth, Courtney, Charlotte, Coto, my son's, momma Lauren and her husband Jesse, their kids, Ms. Andrea, Walter, Preston, Aunty Momma n grandma, Eno's girl Tara what up in Oregon, the homie Zay and his fam in Alaska, Aunt girl Sam, my homegirl Sam and if I forgot anyone I love ya'll!  Anyway, la reina at Wakulla, the big homie "Fred" and el negrito little Eddie, everyone, I love ya'll.  Feliz Navidad y Happy New Year!

~ Anthony

To  my beautiful wife Meleah,

I know this is our first Christmas we must spend apart, and time is our only enemy, with this we have to pass.  Then once again we will walk hand-in-hand, while we make a fresh new start.  Where love and faithfulness shall surely meet and forever you will always be....my true and loyal heart.

I'm so proud of you bae, Merry Christmas darlin'. Thank you for all your support.  Just hold on, I'll be home soon.

Love always, James

To my beautiful wife,

Thank you for being my wife, my partner, my friend, my yes when everything else is no.  I'm sorry we can't be together physically, but you will be in my heart on Christmas just like you are on every other day .  If a snowflake fell everytime I thought of you and our angels, what a white Christmas we'd have. I love you now and always.  Merry Christmas!

Truly Spoken, Yo Terry

To my family and friends,

I give my thanks to God first for putting you all in my life whether past or present.  Second, I give my thanks to you who is reading this.  For giving me hope and inspiration, also for allowing me to be apart of your lives.  Still even with the distances and fences between us love and friendship knows no boundaries.  Mom and Bill, you guys are my backbone when everyone else has gone MIA.  You're always there for me.  You ALL are in my thoughts and prayers.  Some more than you may realize.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  ~Phillip

Howdy,

Warm thoughts, loving memories and huge smiles are the emotions I have when thinking of my family and circle of friends.  You all are wonderful.  Your love and support is unconditional for which I greatly accept as everlasting.  May your holidays be joyful and merry.  Be safe.  God Bless and stay cool.  I love you all.

Merry Christmas, Johnny

First and foremost, I wanna thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ for allowing me to wake up this day. I pray for those that are lost and can't find their way.  God promised He will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Isaiah 43:19).  To my precious mother who has been our foundation, the back bone of our household, thank you mom for there are no words to describe our endless love, respect and honor that you deserve.  To my brothers and sisters, thank you Anthony, Audy, Nini, Gabby, Wilson.  Boy our mother did a great job!  I am so grateful that our mother taught us how to stay together.  If I could have chosen any brothers and sisters, I would have chosen you!  I love you guys.  Saludes a titi Carmen, Juan, Anthony y familia.  ~Alex

To my family and friends,

I want to start by thanking my mom.  Mom, you are the only one that has been there for me from day one.  You have drove or flown from Grand Rapids all the way to Tampa at least once a year to come visit and you have done everything you can to make sure the phone is on and I have everything I need.   Thanks mom, you truly are the world.  Now I want to thank my brother and sisters for what they have done.  It really means a lot to me that you are there for me when needed.  Cuzo, I want to say that I'm sorry.  I ask you and Uncle Harold both for forgiveness.  You took me in when I had nowhere else to go and I let you both down.  For that I am ashamed, but I love and miss you both.  Bubba, it's been awhile since I heard from ya.  Hit me up.  You know where I am.  Let me know what's up with the girls.  Lorin, if you read this, I want you to know that daddy loves you.  I am so sorry that I haven't been there.  I have tried to write, but your mom says no.  Another year and I'll be there.  Until then, I love and miss you baby.  To everyone else, I love you and miss you all.  See you in 2015.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody.

~Jeffrey

The worst mistakes we can make in life are those that we don't learn from.  I've had 12 years to learn from mine.  It will soon be time to let me go so that I can begin putting the pieces back together.  The boy who was locked up has become a man.  Foolish ways are no more. I know many trials and tribulations await my return and I look forward to each one.  These are the weights that now strengthen me.  The puddle of mud that was incarcerated 12 years ago had been hardened by the pressures of this environment into a durable rock.  The integrity, strength and determination of this stone makes it insurmountable.  All I have to give is all that I am.  So I have become all that a man could possibly be.  My prayer is that I may now be a light unto the darkness I once caused. ~Shawn

To all my family and friends,

Have a Merry Christmas and a great start to the New Year!  Going back to court soon, so please keep my in your prayers.  Hopefully this is the last holiday season away from the ones I love!  I have a great woman that has stood by me through all of this, and I owe her the world.  I love you Amanda and can't wait to grow old together!  To my girls, Astrid and Nessa, daddy K will be home soon and be good for mommy!  Thanks for everything mom and dad, without ya'll's support and love, this place would be worse that it is!  You're my best friend mom, I owe you more than is imaginable, but I'll start by changing my life around and making you proud to be my mom!  Wak, thanks for forgiving me and understanding that family's should stand by each other no matter what.  I know I've mad some horrible choices in life, but you live and learn and inside I'm a really great person and grown up a lot.  I love you big sis.  Jordo and Clay, keep up the good work and stay out of trouble.  Trust me, you don't want to end up in my shoes.  This is no place for our family!  Uncle K will be out soon.  And to my boys, Noah and Avery, I'm sorry I've missed so much precious time, but please know that your daddy loves you and thinks of you all the time!

Love your husband, son, brother, uncle father and daddy K, XOXOXOXO

To my family and friends,

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your love and support over the years.  It doesn't go unnoticed.  Thank you.  I wish my family and friends great health and good times through the holidays and may 2014 be better than 2013 was.

To Brittney and Roni, my daughter's who have been there every step of the way, I will always love ya'z!  Love, daddy

~Ronald




For most people the holiday season is about celebrating time spent with friends and family and only lasts for a few weeks each year.  Then it is back to business as usual and most don't realize how precious it is to be able to spend time with those they love.  Once that is taken away from you, then you realize how truly precious it is.  My holidays must last all year long because I celebrate every day the little time I am able to talk or visit with my friends and family.  So mom, Jenna, Alex, Alley, Brittany, Jo, Mimi, The Sajjadis and Jacksons, and whoever else I missed:  Merry Christmas!  Although we may not be together, know that I am with you in my heart.  Know that I can't wait to see you or talk to you on the phone.  Hopefully this is the last year we are apart, but if not, we will celebrate together soon.  I love and miss you all.  Happy New Year!

~Chris

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Christmas Angel

Glass House

My whole world took a flip.  How did all this stuff happen?  Five and a half years ago I was a selfish dude who cared only about myself.  You and your feelings rated a big 0 on my meter.  My life was a kill-zone where I was the victim.  Self-medicating had me by the balls. Then bang!!

A judge sentenced me to prison and slingshots me into another world.  I'm still trippin'.  I mean....the world is full of haters who haven't even met me but don't like me.  "Innocent" until proven guilty is a myth.  That shit don't exist.  So I'm glad there are so many people out there playing God.  I used to smoke rocks, now I'm ducking trying not to get knocked the fuck out. 

Somebody must be looking out for me.  I mean my old crew from the street is still using dope, just like they were when I left five years ago.  Some really fell on bad times and are currently pushing daisies. 

Me?  I got a second chance.  The opportunity to get clean and repair all the shit I broke.  And I messed up a super-sized bunch of shit.  Don't think for a second I don't think about it either.  Not a day goes past when I'm not reminded of the skeletons in my closet.

Sobriety is both a blessing and a curse.  The curse being that until you address and begin to repair your faults, there is a lot of guilt.  After all, your not self-medicating and that shit hurts.  Unless your just a piece of shit and don't care.  In which case you probably won't stay sober long, cause sobriety is as much for the people who love you as it is for yourself.  Yeah, think about that.  

So here I was last week, playing my guitar and singing.  I stepped up to the microphone and looked out at nearly 300 prisoners.  Then, setting on the front row was the warden, the head of classification and a handful of officers.  This was the first time I have performed sober and the first time in five years I have played and sang. 

I needed to do this.  For me.  There will come a day that I am free.  Another day after that I will face some hurdle that in the moment will seem to big to cross.  On that day, I will remember me, an acoustic guitar and the day I stood tall.  The day I stood alone. 

I will smile, realizing whatever silly thing I'm up against isn't' shit compared to what I've been through in my life.  The thing that didn't kill me did indeed make me stronger.

David defeated Goliath with just one stone.  However, David had the power of God behind his sling.  I can't help but believe there is a greater purpose to my life.  I'm blessed.  You're reading a blog that is made possible because of you, the reader, and the people who believe in me. 

After my performance last week I felt exhilarated.  My level of confidence in myself has grown.  The other day I was asked to teach in the next music class.  My confidence was noticed and opened a door for me.

Over my lifetime I have seen many doors close.  Quite amazing to now see them opening.  Perhaps God is behind my sling as well.  As long as hes' not behind the rocks being thrown at me, I'll be plenty happy.

Blog Tips from your Jailbird Friend

I think a blog is a lot like a bird feeder. 

It takes time to establish your feeder. 

If you run out of seed the birds find a new place to dine.  

Once they find a new feeder it takes time to bring them back to yours.

The more activity at your feeder lets the other birds know that you have a great menu.  

Could I interest you in some bird seed?    

Sacred Heart

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