
By Federal Inmate Edwin Rubis #79282-079 , serving 40 years for a nonviolent marijuana conspiracy offense
You can only embrace and shake hands with your visitors, your children, and family members once when they first come in, and of course, when they leave. Once seated, you cannot have any physical contact with your visitors nor play with your children as you would like to.
Edwin Rubis: My New Year’s Resolution for 2020
So what can I say about a New Year’s resolution? The words just don’t resonate with me. I see all these different ads on television promoting different commercial products to enhance one’s New Year’s resolution in a more unique and effective way, and wish I could benefit from the usage of them, but that would be a miracle in itself.
Believe me, I am not trying to sound negative, but my New Year’s resolution is, and has always been, to do the best that I can with what I’ve got, behind prison walls. But even that optimistic approach can quickly turn sour.
For instance, if I’m trying to get in top physical shape, I’m not afforded the proper nutrition and exercise equipment to carry it out. If I want to build muscle, I have to rely on homemade contraband weights made out plastic bags full of sand or water, which are constantly being taken and discarded by prison staff, once discovered. The only aerobic exercise equipment we are afforded is pull up bars, old exercise bikes, and two run-down treadmills for 900 or so inmates to use. Again, such deprivation is due to “safety concerns and legitimate penological interests”, or so the prison claims.
Prisoners Are Masters at Improvising
At the beginning of every new year, I make a commitment to be better than the year before: physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. So far, I have kept myself in pretty good physical shape. I’ve learned to play more musical instruments. I’ve learned how to effectively mentor others with life changing principles. I am at the end of finishing my Master’s degree, hopefully by the end of February.
I have devoted my life to becoming a better individual. The only thing that sometimes depresses me is not having the opportunity to thrive in a social environment, in a place that’s not built with mesh-wire steel fences and humongous concrete walls.
But regardless of it, I refuse to feel like a victim. I refuse to give up or give in to the injustice I’ve already suffered at the hands of America’s unjust marijuana conspiracy laws, and continue to move on forward ever attempting to make the best out of a ridiculous situation in such a horrible place as prison.
#freedwinrubis
How To Write to Edwin:
FCI-Talladega
PMB 1000
Talladega, AL 35160″