JPay, the messaging system for incarcerated people, knows more details about my life than some of my closest friends. Most of my 3,966 emails are from my mother: encouraging me in my faith, and in others, chastising my perceived “sly” comments. As her adult child, it’s hard to maintain a line of independence, especially because I’m so dependent on her for support.
Since JPay’s tablet program rolled out in New York in 2019, the landscape of prison has changed forever. It allows email service on weekends, and in many instances, it is faster than snail mail. But when I go home after serving my full sentence of 25 years to life, will I be able to take with me my emails and digital pictures, which are my most prized possessions?
When my mother lost her home in her divorce after being married for 17 years, she went from living a solidly middle- to upper-middle-class life, being a founder and director of a women’s shelter and having stability, to being homeless, sleeping in her van at campgrounds or Walmart parking lots. The van that she would drive from Texas to New York was essentially her home. I worried about her making it, because the van wasn’t in the best of shape. I worried that if she broke down, literally all she owned would be sitting on the side of some road.
My mom finally got into her apartment. It is in Maryland, and she lives in a building where the average rent is $3,000 a month.