A New Year in Prison

Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are difficult for prisoners who are often reminded of memories of times past with family. We make the best of it; those who can afford to make a special cook-up, call family, and send handmade cards or gifts. But spirits are generally heavy in prison during the holidays. 

New Years is another story altogether. Perhaps it's the hope of a better year to come, a year closer to going home, or simply the symbolic death of the old and birth of the new. Whatever the case may be, all the doldrums of the holidays fall off in a single night as the hum of anticipation fills the air in each housing unit. Some of the units that house older prisoners are quiet enough to hear a cricket as the stroke of midnight is too late to stay awake for, but housing units with younger prisoners buzz with the electricity of laughing, singing (if you can call it that), and horsing around. Prisoners tune their T.V.s to coverage of Times Square and join the countdown in a chorus of boisterous voices: "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!"

There are no fireworks, no cowbells, and no midnight kisses. But a melody of banging on bed frames, whistles, and whooping shouts fill the air with an expression of hope in a place that desperately needs it. I'm woken up by the sounds, but I smile and think of those I love, silently wishing them a Happy New Year and fanning the flame of hope in my heart. Perhaps this will be the year of healing.