The Larson Family

In 1973, my Uncle Jim went to prison in Michigan. He was convicted of murder. At risk of going into too much detail and getting it wrong, I will just say that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a man he calls an “aquaintance” killed another man. He went to trial and was convicted. He’s been shuffled around the state of Michigan, to different correctional facilities, for the last thirty six years.

I’ve corresponded with him off and on since I was about twelve years old, and he’s always been honest and upfront about his past, making no excuses for his misdeeds. He’s become an educated man in prison, and has mellowed with age. He’s now in his sixties.

For many years, he’s been going to parole hearings, all to no effect. He’s been denied parole every time. Early on, family members of the victim would show up and plead with the parole board to keep my uncle in prison, but as of late, the parole hearings have been more and more sparsely attended. The judge who convicted my uncle has died. The attorney who tried him has died. And the man who actually committed the murder is also dead. At the last parole hearing, my Mom was the only member of the public who attended.

Half an hour ago, I got a call from my Mom–his sister. My Uncle Jim is being paroled on December 16th. My Mom and her other brother Johnny are going to Michigan to pick him up, and then driving him back to North Dakota to be reunited with my Grandmother. And I will get to meet him for the first time I can remember. My Mom tells me I met him once when I was a young boy, but I don’t remember it.

I don’t know if it’s fully hit me yet. My entire life, or for the last twenty-eight years anyway, I have always lived with the circumstance that my uncle was in prison. I don’t know if I really believed that a day would come when he would actually get out. But, now it seems that day is almost here.

It’s been such a sudden development, I started to think about what I can do to get prepared for his homecoming. What should I get my uncle for Christmas? No sooner had I entertained that thought, many more followed. What do you get a man who has been in prison since the early 1970’s?

Richard Nixon was the President when he went to prison. In the time he’s been incarcerated, eight-track and cassette tapes came and went, as did the Polaroid camera. He’s never experienced cable television, VCRs, DVD Players, compact discs, video games, computers, cell phones, or the internet, other than limited exposure in prison. He’s never sent an email.

And all those thoughts lead to other questions. What would it be like to be in my uncle Jim’s shoes? How do you get a job? How do you answer the questions about a blank resume? What kind of work can he expect to secure? I can only imagine the hardship he will soon experience.

I’ll have a lot more to say about this as the situation develops, but suffice to say this is a true new beginning for my family. –Troy