Sigrid – Page 11

Categories: Prison

Richard Tabler

I reposted the post I wrote for Wire of Hope’s Instagram yesterday but I wanted to talk more about Richard Tabler. First, he is looking for pen pals and that’s how we met, he joined Wire of Hope, and we stroke a friendship. He is on Texas death row (already terrible life conditions), but he lives in harsher circumstances as he is the only person who is permanently housed on death watch, at Polunski Unit. A rapid Google search will make you believe his mom smuggled a phone to him and he used it to threaten a State Senator’s daughters, which lead to his super-high security housing and the arrest of his mother and sister, and their definite loss of visitation. The truth is that he used a smuggled phone – his mother has nothing to do with this, but she did buy minutes for the phone so he could call her – and made a call trying to raise awareness on the living conditions on Texas death row. Obviously, making an unauthorized phone call from inside to someone of power was not the smartest move, but does this deserve an unending housing on DEATH WATCH? All his neighbors are men who have received an execution date, and as he builds relationships with them, they get closer to their date and eventually, he witnesses them leave to their death. On top of this mental torture, he has not been allowed to see his family since the phone incident, over 13 years ago.
I suppose I relate as I feel he is the only one who has an idea of what I’m going through, having lost my visits too. He says it’s different however, and it is, because it’s not his life partner, there is no child involved, but it’s been going on for so long it makes me sick for him. I have a really hard time accepting prison authorities have almost all-power as there is no real oversight, and no one cares enough to change that… Anyway, if you’d like to get to know Richard, here is his profile on Wire of Hope: https://wireofhope.com/prison-penpal-richard-tabler/

Categories: Books, Prison

Within the Shadows of Life

Richard was writing his autobiography when he first joined Wire of Hope. He tells the story of growing up feeling unwanted and unloved and how he embraced a life of crimes while searching for his place in the world… until he ended up on Texas death row.

Without even realizing it, and before he even found anyone to write to through us, we at Wire of Hope made an impact on him, and we were moved to read he even mentioned us in his book.

Categories: Books

February reads

Photo by David Lezcano on Unsplash

I only read two books in February:

I thought it would be a short fun witchy read, and it was witchy-ish but not really my cup of tea witchy I guess. Too juvenile and “simple” maybe. I couldn’t really get into the relationship at the center of the book, nor their past or their evolution. It’s probably a good young adult book, and there are some love scenes too that may be found spicy to a younger audience.

I am sure this book spoke deeper to Asian-Americans but because I lost my dad after a long period of illness, I could unfortunately relate very much to some parts of the book. Though the food is at the center of the book, and food is not very important to me and none of the dishes were familiar, the author did a good job at transmitting their meaning and importance to the reader. I understand the search for our personality and culture, and trying to figure out what came through our parents, and what in this is them, and what is really us.
I liked the book, it was intimate, honest, sad (I did cry), vulnerable (and so, brave).

Categories: Prison

Wedding Anniversary

Today is the 6th anniversary of our legal union. I think we would agree that our commitment to each other took place a year prior, but some days it’s hard not to see the beginning of our correspondence as some type of magickal reunion. I can’t believe it’s been 8 years already…

@sigridwoh I still d❤️. 6 years down, forever to go. #weddinganniversary #prisonwifelife #prisonwifetiktok #incarceration #prisonrelationships #prisonwives #forever #prisonlove #lovelockeddown #longdistancerelationships #truelove #separatedbyprison #lockeduplove #longdistance #prisonvisits #notsilenced #facesofincarceration #happymarriage #deathwontdouspart #lovestory #loveyou ♬ memories – Maroon 5

Being in prison, it can be hard to make a wedding anniversary special.

Wedding anniversaries are a time for couples to celebrate their love and commitment. It is about celebrating the union of two people who pledged to stay together through the good times and the bad (when prison is involved, the bad can be so bad you know a marriage is really strong if it survives it). However, when one spouse is incarcerated it can be difficult to make this day special.

The main goal is to find ways for your spouse to still feel close with you on that day. It is easy when it falls on a visit day but if not, here are some ideas for you:

you can send them a card (cards are always special ❤️)

– you can find my “I still d❤️” card in my shop –

or/and a JPay/Corrlinks/other institutional email provider message letting them know you are thinking of them;
or write down some memories from your past anniversaries and share them with your spouse over the phone if you are lucky to get a phone call that day;
give them something they will enjoy receiving on that day. Incarcerated individuals cannot really receive gifts of course, so you are limited to paper gifts: a book – maybe some type of relationship or appreciation journal, a beautiful picture of you two (or a nice picture of you!), etc. This will require some organization skills and luck to arrive around the right day.
You can also post about it on social media. Obviously, only do so if you feel it is safe to do so, on a private page with limited access maybe. This is just a nice gesture for your incarcerated partner to be acknowledged. I also like to do that to remind people that yes, I do have partner, he is real and loved – and the middle finger to those who did not believe in us or did not support us is always a bonus 😉
You can also make your own personal playlist, on Spotify or any other music app you use, and send your spouse the list so they can get the same songs and listen to it “together” – this will definitely require a budget considering the price of songs when in prison.

Happy Anniversary!

Categories: Books, Recommendations

January reads

Photo by Claudia Wolff on Unsplash

On my last post I talked about one of my goals for 2022: read more books! I am writing this mid-April so it would be easy to think I didn’t read much and have nothing to share, but I have actually been doing very good (with at least this goal :p). Maybe I should have added to blog more… Anyway, back to the books, I do use my Audible subscription, but I did sign up for Libro too. When you open your account, you choose a local bookstore you want to support and the profits will be share with them.
Then I found out about Libby! This one is free because you borrow books from your actual local library!
With all those apps, I am set up for plenty of reading options of all genres.

Here is what I read (or listen to) in January (I decided catching up with 3 months would be too much for one post so I make separate ones):

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

The title is pretty clear about the book’s subject. I read this book as a part of the Campaign for Justice Bookclub by the ACLU of Florida. I was excited about finally reading this book but even more about the opportunity to discuss it with like-minded or at the very least open-minded people. Each time there was a meeting, I felt (re)motivated by the other members acknowledging the issues of both the justice system and the corrections system, neither of which does what their title implies.

Michelle Alexander gives us the history of slavery evolving to incarceration for people of color, and expose with numbers, experiments and experiences how our system is still racially motivated and enforced, whether we are actively conscious of it or not.
If you are already well-informed about the American criminal justice system, it will not make your brain explode, if you are not, it might open your mind to questions you had not consider before – or I should that “you never had to consider before” because you are privileged. I think this is maybe where this book is the most powerful: when it acts as an eye-opener to the people who are on the other side of the gate and have the power to embrace change.

American Girl by Wendy Walker

This book was all over Audible when I started my subscription. It is about a small-town murder witnessed by the narrator of the book, an autistic 17-year-old girl. I was like, sign me up! Charlie wants out (of the town, her blended family and sometimes her mind), works at a sandwich shop to save money, when her boss is killed. For the rest of the book she is trying to remember what exactly happened while trying to protect others and navigate her feelings towards a childhood friend now police officer (of course).

It wasn’t as dark, serious, or even believable as I expected and I was a bit disappointed. I kept having issues with the story development and some parts were too predictable, but it was a fun quick listen (it’s an Audible exclusivity so only available as an audiobook, and some scene are recreated instead of read).

Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford

Somebody’s Daughter is a Memoir. Ashley C. Ford tells her story of growing up a Black and poor girl with the heavy absence of her incarcerated father. Because I constantly worry about my son, all I wanted to get out of this book was that Ashley was okay, she was strong, and she had a close relationship with her father despite them being separated by prison most of her life. I was expecting to read more about this relationship but luckily for Ashley, there is more to her story. As complex as it is, because someone did something wrong doesn’t mean you stop loving them (it’s not black and white like people like to think), and also because someone raised you alone doesn’t mean you owe them unconditional love – yes, this book is more about Ashley’s complicated relationship with her mother. It is hard and honest, and beautifully written.
It is even better if you go with the audiobook because it is read by the author herself 🙂

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