The Christmas Traditions I’ve Created Over a Decade in Prison

The essay "The Christmas Traditions I’ve Created Over a Decade in Prison" was featured in Filter Magazine in December 2022. Excerpts are provided below.

*****

Many people I’ve spent Christmas with in prison have described this time of year the same way: feeling like there’s something they’re supposed to do, but they couldn’t remember what it was. I can’t quite relate to this. Every year, the moment Thanksgiving is over, my Christmas spirit becomes activated.

It begins quietly in my cell, making links of green and red paper into “lights” that I tape as close to the ceiling as I can reach. Slowly, these begin to spread across the dorm.

Next my snowflake stencil comes out, alongside a stack of white paper and a disposable razor. A couple of soups traded to the mental health arts-and-crafts group, and I have silver glitter in hand. Bedazzled paper snow suddenly appears in the windows and doors. Paper gingerbread men and snowmen are not far behind.

More than a decade in prison has challenged me to expand my concepts of loved ones and community. All those Christmases have taught me to create my own traditions, but none of them are really for me. They’re for the people in my life, near or far. I’ve just always wanted Christmas to feel real to them, for it to hold the meaning and joy that it does for me.

*****

You can read the full essay, "The Christmas Traditions I’ve Created Over a Decade in Prison," at Filter Magazine. Filter's mission is to advocate through journalism for rational and compassionate approaches to drug use, drug policy and human rights.