Safety and Sentencing Prison Program Crime Survivors for Community Safety Beyond Barriers

A Day in the Life

A Day in the Life is a collection of writings by Justice Matters and Survivors Speak readers. Authors submit stories that describe one day in their life as a prisoner, as a survivor of violence or crime outside prison, or as a family member of a person who is in prison or surviving violence/crime. Writers are identified only by initials to protect everyone's privacy. Inquiries about A Day in the Life should be submitted to Kathleen.

Christmas Dinner

The day started out with excitement and anxiety. I hadn’t seen J-- in seven months. Had he grown? What did he look like? How much did he weight? Would he be as anxious as I was?

The Day of the Big Game

On the day of the big game, I got up and ran five miles to limber up, as I always do. But this day was different. This day was special. This was the day the teams would be chosen from amongst the best players in the prison.

Another Day Closer to Family

5:36 am I woke up this morning anxious for a visit that might or might not come. For a year my life has been slowly falling apart. This is my second time in prison and this time I’m doing a 90-month sentence.

Standing in the Pill Line

Waking up here at 6:30 A.M. and going through the snow and cold to chow hall is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. It’s twenty degrees and the wind is blowing ten miles an hour.

The Black Box

I was scheduled to take the trip from Snake River Correctional Institute located at Ontario, Oregon to the Oregon State Correctional Institute in Salem in February 2007. At 0430 the officer woke me up on the day I was to go and gave me plastic bags to pack my things in.
Syndicate content