I have been counseling people who are about to enter prison for almost twenty years now. I tell them a lot of my information on facilities is no longer up to date; however, a lot is still current especially when it comes to attitude. Whenever I sit down with someone the following story is always told.
On my first day in prison I was depressed and close to a full scale panic. How was I going to handle being locked up for almost two years — separated from friends and family and in a very frightening environment? I was told it was time to attend “mail call.” I didn’t expect to have any mail that first day, but I decided to attend to see how the process worked. To my surprise my name was called and the corrections officer tossed me a post card.
The post card bore a stamp from South Africa and it was from my former teammate and roommate David. It read:
“Of all my friends, you seem to be getting the most diverse experiences out of life.”
I couldn’t help but laugh — A sound not heard very often at a prison mail call. Looking back I realize that David’s short note was a message about attitude, about dealing with the darkest moments of our souls and about life in general.
Those terrifying moments, we all have, are opportunities and experiences that we can take to our advantage if we bring the right attitude with us. It isn’t easy, but worth every effort we can muster.
I got word that David died this weekend. He was a great soul, an adventurer, and someone you wanted to be around. I won’t bore you with stories of the semester that David, Glen, and I shared a rent house in Fayetteville nicknamed “Toad Hall.” Let’s just say we made sure the house lived up to it’s famous nickname.
The last time I talked to David he was undergoing some difficult moments of his own, and I reminded him of his post card. Something I still possess. This time we could laugh together.
Now David is with God and he has a post card from me. I am sure it has been delivered. It reads:
“Of all my friends, you seem to be getting the most diverse experiences out of life.”
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