As for me, my mother and father were always around. Although they were considered ‘the Scotts that fought a lot and yelled at their children,’ they always had a reputation for keeping food on the table and being a hard-working father and mother. Mom was a very good cook and she kept the house in order. As for my father, he felt as long as he worked and brought his check home to pay the bills, everything was all right.
My father was a great protector of his family. I pray at times that I will be a great father and that my children will accept me, even though I didn’t spend a great deal of time with them. I’ve been in prison for twenty-five years; when I got locked up, my daughter was three years old. I didn’t hear from her until she was twenty-one years old. She talked to me as if I had just left yesterday. I was overwhelmed that she didn’t scold me for leaving her and began to connect with me as if I was living across the street from her.
The good thing is, I met my grandchildren over the phone. I want and need to be out there for them. I’m also aware of how important it is to be educated. My goal is to receive a diploma and hang it in my daughter’s living room so that my grandbabies will take the road of education as opposed to a life of crime.
I had a great father and he worked but neither of us was educated. I believe that was the breakdown in our relationship as far as fatherhood is concerned.
Mount Tamalpais College provides an individualized, trauma-informed approach to learning. Your tax-deductible gift allows us to support students incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison from enrollment through graduation, and post-release.
