I have been incarcerated for 18 and a half yrs for crime I didn’t not commit. And at times prison life can be very depressing.But it could be worse. I look on the news and I see stories that just break my heart.A few weeks ago I saw the story of a man and his young daughter,who lost their lives trying to cross the Rio grande river.They were willing to lose their lives in search of a better life in this country. And I believe most people (not all) in this world take that for granite. I am a big brother in this mentoring program called Genesis 2.And I tell these young men daily it can always be worse. I’ve met foreigners over the yrs that would gladly do life in prison rather than go back to there countries. Just being able to eat three times a day, clean water,and a place to sleep would make them happy. Just having a since of security. But most people takes these things for granite, even prisoners. I know guys whose health has deteriorated while they were incarcerated. My friend Mike Frazier from Sandusky Ohio, had a lump on his back that the doctors told him it was just scar tissue.They told him this for YEARS. But it continued to grow.So finally they decided to send him to cmc which is the prisons medical hospital. They cut him open to remove the scar tissue and it was full of cancer and he was dead within a year.I would love to be free, but I’m so very thankful for my health. I know some who would trade there freedom,for good health, because being debilitated by a horrible disease,is like a prison itself.If this wasn’t a true fact, people would not have been employing Dr.Kevorkian for his services. They were choosing death over living with a debilitating disease.Some would trade almost anything for there health. So if you are healthy, be thankful and cherish that. Life is a gift and most people don’t cherish it. I’m not saying that people don’t want to live.I’m saying, the way that we live shows if we cherish life. I did not cherish life before coming to prison, because I did so many things to put mines as well as other peoples at risk.On three occasions that I can remember, after a night of drinking and partying falling asleep at the wheel while I was driving. I hit the back of someone’s car one of those times. And another time I ran through a red light. Completely reckless behavior. Those who respect and cherish the gift of life, do not take unnecessary chances with there life. Drug abuse, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, thrill seeking. None of those things show a respect for life.Give me memories over possessions any day.Possessions and money you can lose or they can be taken away. But my memories can never be taken away from me. The memories that I have is what has kept me sane for all these yrs of prison life. And I have also made some memories in prison also. We can all find something to complain about. And life could be better for all of us. But if we spend more time focusing on and enjoying the things that we do have instead of the things we don’t. Life would be so much more happier and stress free.
ARCHIE WILDER
DOC #414-917
