Other essays on this theme

Essay: "Lost and Found"

In a short span of time everything was lost: My health. My family. Any hope of ever being free. With nothing left to lose there was nothing left to live for. Then my sanity was gone. Violence became a wonderful companion as I made those around me suffer. Someone had to pay for my losses, guilty or not.

It was at this point in my life that I met Gary and Ramsay, two extraordinary people. They made themselves substitutes for the family I had lost and, in the case, the substitutes proved better than the originals.

My health was beyond their intervention, but didn’t seem such a burden once I was no longer alone. My life had new meaning as I judged my worth through their eyes and began to feel human again.

It was surprising to find that there was freedom inside the black barriers of prison. The key was my new perspective. The more I was able to help my fellow prisoners, the more I helped myself. Time took on new meaning.

Life is ever filled with surprises. My path isn’t always easy, but thanks to all I found when I lost everything, I can make it one day at a time and that’s all that is required.