I was contacted by a schoolmate who used to be my friend a few years ago. He requested to his mother to contact me via Facebook for my permission to write to me from prison. My initial thought was like everyone else: oh, hell no. But after time, my mindset changed. Maybe he reached out because there was no one else. I assume prison is a lonely place, so perhaps he just needs someone to write to. So I wrote to him first.
I decided to keep my letter short and sweet. Our friendship did not end on good terms, so hearing him wanting to talk made me anxious. I basically just asked what he wanted and if he wanted to blackmail me for reaching out, then so be it. His response was sincere. He apologized for the way he treated me and for his more-recent actions that led him to prison. It was a relief to know that he was at least acting like a decent human, but I kept my guard up.
He asked me to go visit him after we had exchanged letters for a few weeks. I was uncomfortable at first, but decided to go. The prison was about an hour away, so I had an hour to play out the million ways this visit could go. After seeing him for the first time in probably four or so years, my heart sank. I care for people too easily, so seeing him here in these white walls were a little unsettling. But after he sat before me and we talked about his whole experience, I saw a change in him. He was acting like he did when we were friends back in high school. He talked about how he wants his life to be when he leaves. He seemed genuinely inspired for change.
He mentioned that no one else besides his parents have came to visit him either, which I found very upsetting. He used to have a lot of friends before he made poor decisions, and it's really sad how people (myself included) are so apt to judge instead of listening to someone's story first, as well as offering to help when they're in a bad place.
After I left, he told his mother about how much of an impact I made on his life. He felt like someone cared for the first time in a long while. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but I think more people need to be more open-minded when it comes to people they supposedly "care" about.
