How I did it: i used to write to prisoners when i was living back at home with my mother and stepfather. it was death row inmates then. part morbid curiosity and part trying to do some good i guess. some of them were really very nice people, others werent (one guy was found with a womans leg in his freezer with chunks bitten out and actually burned a swastika into his forehead after being imprisoned. there was a true crime book called "the flesh collectors" written about him and his accomplice. this was at a time when i was obsessed with murderers and crime scene shows, etc. which i can barely stomach now) there were constantly problems with letters being sent back and i finally dropped the whole thing (my parents had been dead set against it and i think they just returned any of the mail when they checked the mailbox, though they swore they hadnt)
the motivations are different now. I wasnt looking for the inmate who had committed the most shocking crime. I wanted to write to people who were close to my age. Who have a few years left to go but will one day rejoin society. I figure it will be less depressing and I can help keep them busy and entertained for some of that time until they are released.
So now I have 2 penpals, 2 women a little older than I one imprisoned for a string of burglaries and the other armed robbery. I wrote to them because their penpal ads called out to me. So far we have only exchanged introduction letters. But I am sure it will be good for me (as there is something so therapeutic and freeing in writing a complete stranger) and i hope and believe it will be a good for erica and crystal too.

Lessons & tips: The first time I attempted this I really overextended myself. I wanted a bunch of penpals, not realizing good letters can take a couple of hours to write, and that introducing yourself over and over can get tedious, as can detailing the events of your day to day life. This time I chose 4 people, wrote them an extremely short intro letter (figuring the ones who needed a panpal more would respond - some of these prisoners actually recieve tons of mail already) and 2 of them responded. I think 2 is great.

Resources: just google "prison penpals" and dozens of sites pop up.

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Oct 27, 2009, 07:45PM PDT | 0 comments | 3 cheers