*This piece first appeared on Beard Bros Pharms and is republished with permission.
On this Thanksgiving, we thought it was important to highlight how thankful every one of us should be. Which is why we want to bring you words from Edwin Rubis about Thanksgiving for him. Edwin has spent the last 27 years in a federal penitentiary. If Edwin can maintain a positive attitude even though he’s been confined and separated from friends and family for the last 27 years, it should serve as a stark reminder to all of us that even in the face of extreme adversity, we can all find things to be thankful for. Edwin is a perfect example of this.
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So, on this Thanksgiving, when your friends and family surround you, please keep people like Edwin in mind who have been unjustly incarcerated for nearly the last three decades.
A message from Edwin Rubis
Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for our lives and all that we hold dear. However, to feel grateful in prison isn’t easy. I am unable to spend time with family members. I am unable to have a meal with my son(s) and parent(s).
The turkey, stuffing, pie, or any of the “fixin’s” that your average American takes for granted are only wishes for myself and fellow prisoners. I will most likely be eating the same thing I’ve had for the past 27 Thanksgiving holidays: a small, cold, undercooked piece of turkey leg, with a scoop each of rice, spinach, and an apple. And as for my unjust sentence and macabre prison conditions I’m compelled to live in?
All I can say is forty years for a non-violent cannabis crime hasn’t been an easy pill to swallow. It has been bitter all the way around. Twenty-seven years of my life are already gone, taking with it my wife and three sons (who barely know me), and a thousand other things I will never get back in this lifetime.
But whether I want to accept it or not, I am still thankful. Thankful for my life. Thankful for the people who still love me and care about me. Thankful for the hope and faith that one day soon I’ll be free. Thankful for what was meant to destroy me has only made me a better man.
So, on this Thanksgiving holiday, I am not going to complain. I would simply be grateful for my life and everyone in it. Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.
This message was received from Edwin Rubis via the Federal Bureau of Prisons CorrLinks system.
*This piece was submitted by a guest contributor. The author is solely responsible for the contents.