Damon From Death Row

This was sent to me from Ronja in Norway who is pen pals with Damon, a death row inmate at the Polunsky Unit, Texas.

This is the story of one of my best friends, which I met through a internet page that offers penpals on death row. I thought to myself, “this is great. Why shouldn't I use some of my money and time, to give another person in another country an easier day?”

I started looking trough the list of inmates, and after about an hour I came over a guy named Damon. In that very instant I knew I had to write to him. There was something special about his eyes, they were so.. How should I put it? Secretive. But at the same time they told an entire life story. The pain and fear in them, and at the same time this hard look, as if he are hiding something. His feelings, sort of like he was trying with everything in him to not let the world see who he really was, and what he felt.

I wrote him a long letter, and after about a month I got an answer. In the first letter he sent me some of the lyrics he had written, rap lyrics. I don't have any of them here at the moment, but I will share something he wrote for me further down.

His writing in my opinion is really good. The way he can tell you something one person would use an entire book for, in only one sentence, one line. His vocabulary, knowledge. It really made me think; what was he doing there? How could such a wise person end up in that place?

I asked him what crime he committed, but he didn't answer. He is appealing his case, so he cant talk about it, in fear of ruining it. If I remember correctly, that was something his lawyer told him. But the crime isn't important, and I just asked out of my natural curiosity. The truth is, I don't care what he did. He says hes innocent, I don't question that, because whether or not he is innocent, it isn't an issue I care to think about. Why would I let mistakes he have made in the past, ruin his future?

Damon has an 6 year old son, who was born shortly after he went to death row. A beautiful boy, just like his dad. They are so much alike, it is almost scary in a way. I don't think I've ever seen a father and a son more alike then they are.

Damon has never gotten to hold his son, feed him, hear his first words, or hold his hands as he tries to learn how to walk. He didn't get to follow him to the first day of school. He hasn't even got to stroke his chin, or even gotten to be somewhat close to him in a physical way. Can you imagine that? If you were to meet your son or your daughter, but you couldn't reach out for them.

Imagine knowing your son is running around in the streets, and that if he ever were to get into trouble, you could never help him, you could never protect him. Never, not even once, in his entire life, have you gotten the chance to give him a hug.

I can't imagine the pain he feels. Can you?

People seem to think that the inmates on death row are evil people who deserve it. Not a person, but an inmate, who never can be good for anyone, or contribute with anything. Well, I'll tell you something. Never in my life have I met a smarter person than Damon. Never in my life have I met a person more good. He is caring and loving, and even though I try to look, I cant see anything negative about him. The only thing he might have done wrong (I say might, because I don't know if he is innocent or not) is a mistake from when he was 16 years old.

Who doesn't make mistakes? Especially at that age. You are very easily influenced, you don't really know who you are, or where you're going. So you start exploring around. That's what he was doing. The thing is, the environment he was in wasn't a good environment. He did things he maybe shouldn't have done, and he might have done the thing he now is on death row for.

Be patient with me, I tend to get stuck on one thing for a while, but Ill get to my point now.

People make mistakes, okay? That's something everybody can agree on. Only difference is the type of mistake. Some make small mistakes, other make big mistakes. But because of one mistake, should we really punish the person by killing him or her? And if we kill a murderer, how is that right? We kill someone, because they killed someone. I don't see the logic in that. People change. Damon has changed. He regrets every bad thing he has ever done. I would think this is the point with for example prison, to make people look at themselves and regret, maybe change.

He is a good man. The best man I have ever known. And if there ever came a time where I would have to put my life in his hands, I wouldn't hesitate one second, because there is nowhere in the world my life would be safer; than in his hands.

There hasn't been one time I have regretted writing him that letter. Having this friendship with him is hard, challenging. It hurts when I think about what the Polunsky Unit is going to do to him. Kill him. I can't think about it, if I do I will just start crying, and I'm in a cafe, so that is something I want to avoid.

What I want to say is that in spit of how much it hurts to hear about how they treat him there, or to know the pain he is living in, I still don't regret it. He is the best friend I have ever had. There isn't any friendship I value more then his. And there isn't anything else in the world I want more then to see him free. To know he is walking down the streets in Houston, breathing in the air, on his way to pick up his son from school.

I have never met him, I have just talked to him in letter form. I live in Norway, and he lives in USA. But he has given me so much. Seeing a letter from him in my mailbox brightens up my day to an extent I cant even begin to explain. His words make me laugh.

Someday I'll get the money needed to visit him. To actually see the greatest man the world will ever know.

SPECIAL PEOPLE.

Special people come our way.
The joy they bring is clear as day.
Like angels above,
They take our hopes up real high,
As we float on cloud 9,
Way up in the sky.

They give us gentle love,
A love true and bold.
As a matter of fact a love story yet to be told.
When all else fails and we don't know what to do,
We turn to our special friends,
Knowing they will come through.

Beyond these walls,
Its hard to see,
How special people bring joy,
Because it was destiny,
I sit in my cell and think of you,
My special angel,
Who gets me through.

You will never know what your letters mean to me,
Until you've been where I've been,
And seen what I've seen.

Your letters are witty+ funny too.
They are special to me,
Because they've come from you.

You're a special person,
This I will say,
Thanks for giving me a brighter day.

(Damon)

You can find your own pen pal and change a human being's life, here: http://www.letterstoprison.com - a new web site offering their services free for 6 months.

Technorati Tags: prison, crime, law, death row, polunskty unit, texas, pen pals