Category: Growth and Change

4 Years After Prison, I Reached a Milestone

Posted on October 3, 2016October 3, 2016 by Texas Magnum

Well, y’all, I have officially reached a milestone of sorts. I have now been OUT of trouble… that means living fine, working hard, and loving life in general… longer than I have been IN trouble, as an adult at least. I guess this is sort of a skewed way of looking at it, because I am counting the time since I got locked up, rather than since I got let free. That is because, for me, locking me up is what got me on the right path. So since that day they closed the cell door and I knew I

Never let yourself forget

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Texas Magnum

As a person who has been incarcerated and spent a couple years in TDC, I have an automatic mark against me. I am a felon. Everything from being disqualified for enlisting in the military or for benefits like food stamps or public assistance in housing are denied a felon living in Texas. I have worked hard and I don’t feel it is necessarily holding me back today, but it most definitely has an affect on me and my family in some form or fashion. There are plenty of jobs and positions I cannot even consider due to this label of

4th of July, 2015 – Can you find freedom while in prison?

Posted on July 3, 2015July 9, 2015 by Texas Magnum

For those of you with family and loved ones in prison on this 4th of July holiday weekend, especially those imprisoned for crimes of drug use, I will tell you this – freedom is a state of mind. A person can be more free while incarcerated than they ever were on the outside. When I was going through real bad times with drug use I was not free. Sure, maybe I could jump in my truck and drive to a party on the 4th, drink some beer and eat some barbecue and that is so-called freedom, compared to being locked

The National Registry of Exonerations

Posted on March 19, 2015May 11, 2015 by Texas Magnum

Have you heard of the National Registry of Exonerations? Founded in 2012 by the University of Michigan Law School in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. The registry keeps track of every overturned conviction and exonerated person in the United States since 1989. With the ability to use DNA evidence, the list is ever growing. It’s a fascination website full of information for anyone interested in social justice and change. There is a list of recent exonerations with some details, recent news in the progress of exonerations, interesting graphs with statistics, and more.

Inmates and Shelter Dogs – Who rescues who??

Posted on September 8, 2014April 8, 2015 by Texas Magnum

Hey folks, take a look at this great article about a great program matching up inmates and shelter dogs. I’ve been scarce lately but about to come back with some big changes on the site. Keep the peace!

The Holidays – Then and Now

Posted on December 29, 2013December 29, 2013 by Texas Magnum

While I was in prison, the holidays were sad days. I couldn’t help but feel alone and sad and think of my family and friends more than usual. I think it’s safe to say that was something almost all of us in prison dealt with, although some tried to act like they didn’t care. Maybe they didn’t, who knows. We did try to make the best of it. We were given a better meal than usual, with baked chicken and turkey. Baked chicken is one of the few things that prison cooking can’t screw up, since it’s relatively simple and

It’s been awhile – Now I am married and a father!

Posted on December 14, 2013May 21, 2015 by Texas Magnum

Hello all, I have been very lax in keeping up with the blog. A whole lot of real life got in the way. Just let me take a minute to brag. I am married to the most awesome woman in the world. We got married on 9/11. A funny date for a marriage but that was the same day I had parole, and I had to consolidate everything so I didn’t miss much work, lol. The way I look at it, that is a good and happy thing that occurred on a day remembered for something unhappy and bad. Maybe

Changes in my life, changes for this site

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Texas Magnum

While I was locked up I spent a lot of time dreaming about being on a river in Central Texas, listening to music, playing my guitar or harmonica, singing, and just having a good ol’ time. I have done just that as often as possible this summer. I want to share a song I really enjoy, by Jason Boland, called Backslider Blues. Fantastic lyrics on this one. Friends, I have really slacked off when it comes to writing blog posts. I had already known that once I got out, the site was going to need to change it’s direction, because

A new job, some alright friends, and a couple tough days

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Texas Magnum

Well – what’s been going on with me for the past 2 and a half months? The usual I guess. It’s hard to describe in a way, what your mind goes through when you get home from prison. But I will try to let you know what this next part of the journey has been like so far. At first, that first day when Texas Department of Corrections let me out their front door and I saw my mom sitting there waiting for me, it was pretty strange driving away. As the prison became just a bad memory in the

I ainâ€™t as good as Iâ€™m gonna get, but Iâ€™m better than I used to be

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Texas Magnum

I am about to write a post to update everyone on what’s been going on the past 2 months that I’ve been home. But first, I am posting this song by Tim McGraw, it has some good lyrics about bettering yourself. I hope all the mothers had a good Mothers Day yesterday. “Better Than I Used To Be” by Tim McGraw I know how to hold a grudge I can send a bridge up in smoke And I can’t count the people I’ve let down, the hearts I’ve broke You ain’t gotta dig too deep If you wanna find some

I have served my time and I am going home!

Posted on February 28, 2012February 28, 2012 by Texas Magnum

This is the post I have been waiting for all along. By the time it is received in the regular mail and posted on here, it will just about be real. I AM GOING HOME! I AM GOING HOME! I – AM – GOING – HOME!!! I am so ready, I can’t wait. Time is crawling now but it’s OK, it’s almost here. Just 10 days to go. I can’t wait to look up at the sunshine, to breath in the fresh air. I can’t wait for a pizza! I am damn excited and happy to go home and see

So this is Christmas…

Posted on December 26, 2011May 11, 2015 by Texas Magnum

This weekÂ I sit here, away from my family at the holidays once again, and I find myself thinking. I am where the universe wants me to be, or else I wouldn’t be here. Since I don’t want to be here, I realize I need to look for the lesson in the situation. Christmas is in just a few more days. It is hard to believe that last year at this time of year I was in prison too. And, the year before that I was in a long term rehab at Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years… and the year

We’re All Doing Time

Posted on September 15, 2011September 16, 2011 by Texas Magnum

Update from Inside: Life here continues to be busy for me, work is trucking along, and so is the rehab program. The days are going by fast overall. Over all I am in very good spirits. I got a book called “We’re All Doing Time” by Bo Lozoff. It’s a spiritual book, not a religious book, but it pulls from all the major world religions. It quotes the Bible, Buddhist teachings, Hindu, Native American, and more. It talks about Christ and Mother Theresa and Gandhi. It is REALLY, REALLY good. The author Bo Lozoff puts in words just what my

Officially a cook in Texas prison!

Posted on August 6, 2011August 6, 2011 by Texas Magnum

Well, how about that? I have been promoted, after just a short while on my job as pot and pan washer in the prison kitchen. The kitchen boss told me he had observed I was a hard worker, and he needed someone who could learn and work hard, and offered me the position. I accepted the offer (ha ha, as if I had a lot of options) and now I am officially a cook, in prison. Ain’t I the shit? All progress is good, and I take this as progress. And, I get an extra meal for my effort. It’s

In the mirror

Posted on April 26, 2011April 26, 2011 by Texas Magnum

I had to laugh the other day. I caught sight of myself in the mirror, and for a moment I was really shocked. For just a minute, I didn’t recognize the person looking back at me.Â I saw a serious man with a square jaw. Someone with dark hair, sort of large green eyes, a pale complexion – yes, it was me alright. But this person looking back at me looked older and harder than I think of myself. Many times, I feel inside just like the same 17 year old kid I once was. It’s literally shocking to see

Goals

Posted on March 26, 2011March 26, 2011 by Texas Magnum

1) Get 6-pack abs 2) Conquer handstand pushups 3) Go home! All sounds simple enough, right? 🙂

“I can” – the strength of those words

Posted on March 16, 2011March 16, 2011 by Texas Magnum

Within the last two days, two of my buddies here in the unit got moved. I was really sad to see them go. One in particular had become a really good friend. He was a good dude and I had spent a lot of my days talking and sharing stories and thoughts with him. He was really good at Scrabble! I felt sad for him, as intelligent as he was, he has spent 15 years in prison and was doing another 3 this time. He is the one who described the experience of getting out of prison and wanting to

Letting go

Posted on December 4, 2010December 4, 2010 by Texas Magnum

I’m mad. I’m anxious. I’m just all around worried. I sit here and sit here and sit here. And I go over and over how I could have lived my life different. I know I could have done better. I am scared for my future. All these thoughts bring nothing but negative emotions and urges. I feel like starting a fight with anyone who crosses me, I have the urge to use drugs, drink, shoot up. And I find myself judging others, in an attempt to defend my actions and outbursts and bad attitude. I know at moments like this,

Doubts and uncertainty have found a foothold

Posted on November 28, 2010November 28, 2010 by Texas Magnum

Hi everyone, I want to share with you that I have been feeling so restless lately. To be honest I have been having a lot of urges to use drugs, and also a lot of doubts about being able to stay sober. I think some of it has to do with knowing that I am going to need to spend the rest of my life without drugs, and as strange as it may sound to some of you, that realization causes me some stress. Drug use has been a part of my life for so long now. That was my

A fellow inmate reaches out

Posted on November 21, 2010March 16, 2011 by Texas Magnum

Today is the 17th of November, and it is a great day! The reason it is such a great day is that last night a fellow prisoner here at the county jail reached out. For the sake of this post, I am going to call him “Ali”. Ali and I wereÂ just sitting around, and laughing with the guys. Anyway, I went back over to my bunk, deciding to call it a night. I was just getting ready to go to sleep, when Ali surprises me by saying “Man, it suck’s that you’re leaving already.” At first I was a