When I left my son he was one years old, now he’s 16. In the moments I get to stare into his eyes at a visit I search for the anger and loneliness that often plague adolescents who have no father living in the home. When I was growing up this was my reality.
Often we project our feelings unto others, so I’m careful, I do my best to be “present.” Before I was sentenced to serve time in the penitentiary I had dreams of being the father I didn’t have when I was growing up, however my immaturity was in direct conflict with my dreams; eventually poor choices shattered them.
I do my best to parent a child who is growing up in a generation where social media trends control the narrative of ones life. Today, things like low self-esteem, violence, depression and narcotics are a common practice amongst our youth. My only prayer is that these issues don’t plague my son and take him away from me more than I’ve already removed myself from him, a silent fear that I carry.
We talk on the phone, do homework together, and talk about his future often. from behind barbed wire fences I do my best to connect with him, looking to transcend our current conditions through attentiveness.
Someday soon I’ll be home with him, I hope to create the memories we both dream of having, I envision being around him absent the prison guards monitoring our interaction……. it’s never too late to create, a moment.
Yes I’m incarcerated, But I’m free!!
I’m a father, Not just a dad.
……Thoughts from an incarcerated Father.
Contact Info:
Postal Mail:
Demar Nelson #358568, Washington State Penitentiary, PO Box 520, 1313 N. 13th, Walla Walla, WA 99362
Prison Email: SecurusTech.net
Instagram: saltwithdnelson
