“The Good: Christmas 2008, I had been in prison for two years. Despite my circumstances, I’d been extraordinarily blessed in so many ways. My five cellies had little to look forward to…without family, without resources, and short on hope, Christmas would be like any other day. I had a little money in my commissary account and planned to pay my blessing forward.”
I awoke at 4:00 a.m. to hang stockings over the end of their bunks. These stockings were not like the ones ‘hung over the fireplace with care.’ Mine were a pair of commissary-purchased socks, one filled with a honeybun and the other with a Kit Kat. For less than $2.50 spent on each cellie, I did something I truly missed — giving gifts.
But the blessing was mine as I saw the childlike tears of my cellies when they awoke to find their stockings.
Throughout that Christmas day, the ripple effect of giving was evident as I received gifts in return. Inmates who had nothing brought me a shot of coffee, a dessert smuggled from the chow hall, a ‘prison-art’ Christmas card (better than Hallmark), and a ‘jail-house sucker’ (made from a handful of Jolly Ranchers melted over a light bulb, formed on a Q-tip, and finally rolled in Kool-Aid powder).
The gifts were so humble. But in their giving, the faces of my cellies radiated joy I had never seen before; none of us will ever forget Christmas 2008.”
—Rich B., Quora