Parenting From Prison
By Tara Snyder
Forward
Parenting from prison is the hardest thing to do. I admire my friends who endure in the face of this type of adversity.
Tara Snyder was once incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. This essay was originally posted to her blog and many months ago she told me I could repost it here for you.
I’ve since lost contact with her, and it leaves a hole in my heart for she’s an amazing writer and a beautiful human being. I’m certain that whatever she’s doing and wherever she is now she is positively impacting those who know her.
Christopher
Parenting From Prison
If you asked any one of the 3,000 plus people on my Facebook what I loved most in my life, I’d like to assume most of them would say my three children. I loved being a mom. And, although I still am and will always be their mother, prison has taken away the title of being a “Mom,” in my opinion.
A month has passed since my parole hearing and life is slowly returning to normal. I tap away at the soft rubber keyboard as I sit here typing at the same table I have for years. It has become my “office”. The guys know I’m writing–what exactly, few know–but that I do it daily.I’m in the dayroom and it’s loud. As abnormal as it may seem, I find the noise level comforting because it tells me all is well. Guys slapping dominoes on thick tables and animated card games make up this cacophony of prison life. Behind these pale cinder brick walls the abnormal becomes a new normal.