A personal view of Christmas inside
The holidays are harder when someone you love is inside. They can also be harder when you are the one inside. We asked our Co-Founder and COO, Becky Calderon, to share what Christmas really looked like during her own incarceration, and what helped.
What are the holidays really like on the inside?
Becky says Christmas is still celebrated, just differently. Decorations come from whatever is on hand. Food is pooled potluck-style from commissary. Mail from home is read and reread. People make a conscious effort to separate themselves, for a few hours, from the weight of the place.
Sharing a meal, pulling out family updates and photos, and telling stories about Christmases past becomes the holiday. It is scaled down, but it is real.
How can photos help bring the outside in?
This is where families can make the biggest dent. Becky recommends sending pictures of the tree, the decorations, the dinner spread, the lights on the house, the dog in a Santa hat. The little stuff your loved one might otherwise miss for years.
Those photos are not just keepsakes. They literally decorate cells during the season. They become part of how somebody inside feels Christmas at all.
The takeaway
You do not have to plan a grand gesture. A handful of photos, a card with your handwriting, and a phone call on the day go further than you think. When the season gets loud out here, a small signal of remember-I-am-here lands quietly and stays a long time.