This letter was written by a person incarcerated at San Quentin.
According to my family, there are over 1,000 bodies in Santa Clara county waiting to be buried. Dad’s funeral will not take place until after Valentine’s day. Also, local laws only allow 10 individuals to attend a funeral.
Here at San Quentin, I applied for a TCL or Temporary Community Leave, to attend dad’s funeral, but it was denied because I have a violent felony conviction. I am working with visiting staff on being able to live-stream the funeral in the visiting room via a platform called Web-X.
My dad is my hero. He and mom are my best friends. I love him deeply. I always will.
I will miss hearing his voice. Since visiting was suspended in March 2020, I am heartbroken that I was not able to see him or embrace him before he died.
I did speak to him and mom on Christmas Day. I told them that they were the loves of my life. I wish I could have warned him and mom, for the umpteenth time, to not go anywhere.
But they got tired of being locked in all the time.
I take COVID precautions seriously. Even more so now. I never refuse to be moved, tested, or to have my vitals taken.
Many on the line refuse to move, to be tested, or to be checked by the nurses as a form of protest. They don’t like to wear masks or social distance. I cringe when I see guys hug, handshakes, do fist bumps, or work out together on the fifth tier.
I respect their autonomy, but I wish I could encourage them to take this seriously. I hope my story can motivate the population to do the right thing.
