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Listening to These People Has Made Me Stop and Think

January 19, 2022

I would like to thank all the members of The Sycamore Tree program, for the opportunity you have given me to better myself, and for the time you have all invested in me. You came to visit week after week to give us the opportunity to hear a different side of the story — the side of the victim and the survivor.

Every session I look to the front of me and I see a victim of crime. I look to my left again I see a victim of crime. So I then look to my right and again I see another victim of crime.

Later I go back to my cell and look in the mirror, and I see an offender, an offender who unknowingly hurt these people I’ve come to know and care about. For that and for the pain I caused to my family and those closest to me, I regret the day I ever got involved in the drug scene.

So today I look in the mirror, and I see an offender that wants to change and an offender who has realized that enough is enough. I look in the mirror and I see myself, hungry for the healthy lifestyle, hungry for a peaceful life not only for me but for all people around me.

From the bottom of my heart I thank each one of you for your support and understanding.

Tags:

ForgivenessPost-Conflict ReconcilliationRJ and the Workplace
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