Hope

Hope is a powerful word.

It can get anyone through a hard time.

If you are lucky enough to get up for another day, you must have hope to guide you through the day.

I dream of better days and, like most people that go through hard times (especially growing up), I know I have nothing to lose but only have so much to gain. What else could go wrong because I feel everything and anything difficult has already happened to me. I have learned from everything to look and see where things have gone wrong. I have felt like I couldn’t climb out of the hole and that has almost broken me, but I looked up and I saw what looked like a pin drop of light. That is called hope!

It drove me to look at things differently than most others and pushed me to go outside my comfort zone. I wanted to go somewhere with my life, and I wanted to give my family the support I didn’t have growing up. I’ve learned you need to be a go-getter because nothing comes your way. You have to go grab it with your hands and mold it so you can be the best at what you do. learned to never give up because it could be my chance to be somebody, and to remember this could be the day when everything comes together. I feel complete because of all the hard work I’ve put in.

Some days I feel so tired but I do not give into it.

Hope keeps me moving, and hope gives me the power to make sure my kids are taken care of so I can get myself out of this dark hole and grab my life back.

— this post was written by an incarcerated Vermonter.