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Post by Ninidi on Jun 16, 2005 3:29:17 GMT -5
Hy there! As I have told you I received my first reply from Paul. Of course I told my husband about it and I also told him what I intended to write to Paul. For example Paul asked how long we are married and how our little son is. I told my husband that I intend to tell Paul stories from our family in letters to come. For example I thought about telling him of the day when Niklas is joining playschool. Or about our holidays. Something like that. But my husband told me that he didn´t think this is a good idea, because it might hurt Paul who hasn´t got a family-life for the rest of his days. What do you think? Can I tell Paul such stories from my family or would that hurt him? Sorry if I made any mistakes. Got a bad headache today...  Greetings from Germany Nicky |
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Post by moghirl on Jun 16, 2005 4:00:54 GMT -5
Hi Ninidi, I guess Paul would like to hear about your home life, the ordinary day to day things, like you mentioned your child's first day at play-school. It gives him a taste of family life which granted he doesn't and is unlikely to have, but could make him feel part of yours. You'll know from his replies what he wants to 'talk' about with you. In my experience inmates are pleased to hear about family experiences,simple things like where you walk your dog and the wildlife you see whilst doing that. I read on one of the pen-pal web-sites that we become their eyes/ears to the outside world. I thought describing food would 've been cruel but even that emotive subject's not out of bounds with my friend. Of course everyone's different and as i say you will tune into Paul and intuitionally know what to / not to say. Best of luck and good on you bringing this guy into your life, Maureen.
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Post by Maggie on Jun 16, 2005 8:37:38 GMT -5
Nicky, From the experiences I've had so far... they DO want to hear about your life. I think it is a mental escape to be able to imagine something besides their cells. I have sent pictures of not just my family, but also pictures of my animals and outside shots. At first I was hesitant for the very reasons you described, but my penpals told me they wanted the pictures, and I honestly think they have enjoyed them. One woman in particular loves animals and has requested more pics of my dogs (she already has a few). I can tell by her letters that she really enjoys hearing about the dogs and having their pics.... Hope that helps  |
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Post by Ninidi on Jun 17, 2005 1:48:03 GMT -5
Thank you both for your reply. I started to write my next letter to Paul yesterday and I decided to tell him everything that I think could interest him. I know that he loved to read when he was younger so I am telling him about my job at the local library. I know he loved to cook so I am describing him my favorite recipe. And I will answering him his questions about our marriage or my birthday. By the way: I hope he will believe me but we have the same birthday, only the year of birth is differend!  I told my husband about your replies and he now thinks different, too! ;D Thank you that I can ask you such questions! Greetings from Germany Nicky |
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Post by moghirl on Jun 17, 2005 2:15:31 GMT -5
Good luck Nicky, let us know how things go with writing to Paul |
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Post by Ninidi on Jun 17, 2005 2:52:29 GMT -5
Thank you! I will keep you informed! |
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Post by Maggie on Jun 17, 2005 13:15:58 GMT -5
Nicky, Another thing I have done is to send a book that we can both read, then we talk about it. I sent a book on the media, and my pen-pal loved it and we are still talking about the book and the issues it brought up. Another one I sent "Redemption" the Tookie Williams story.... which was also great for conversation. In fact, before I sent Tookie's book I sent some articles I found on line about Tookie... I'm sure you will think of your own things as you go.... let us know how it goes and we can share ideas. |
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Post by CCADP on Jun 17, 2005 13:20:44 GMT -5
was the media one for your first penpal? I am sure he could WRITE such a book himself!
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Post by Ninidi on Jun 18, 2005 3:54:56 GMT -5
Sending a book that we can both read is a very good idea! I will keep that in mind for the future! I hope that I will know some of his interests until x-mas so that such a book would be a good gift for him, don´t you agree? My second letter is on its way to him. I told him about my job at the local library, about my wedding with my husband (that´s something he asked about) and about my favorite recipe. He wanted me to tell him how your favorite meal is cooked. And I told him that we have the same birthday! You can´t imagine my surprise when I read in his letter that he and I are born at the same day. Only the year differs. Now, THATS what I call a coincidence! I put a postcard of my hometown into the envelope. California mailing rules are saying nothing about postcards but pictures are allowed. I hope the postcard reaches him... I guess that is enough for the second letter, isn´t it? Thanks for your help! Greetings from Germany Nicky |
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Post by Maggie on Jun 18, 2005 7:01:28 GMT -5
was the media one for your first penpal? I am sure he could WRITE such a book himself! LOL No, it wasn't. It was for the one at Corcoran. I sent the first one The Count of Monte Cristo ;D |
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Post by Maggie on Jun 18, 2005 7:05:35 GMT -5
Nicky,
Sounds like a great second letter! That birthday thing is really amazing! What a freaky coincidence!
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Post by Ninidi on Jun 18, 2005 12:57:31 GMT -5
Maggie,
if I wouldn´t hold his letter with his birthday dates in my hands I wouldn´t believe it! I am very curious to learn what Paul says about it!
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Post by ex member on Jun 23, 2005 12:59:03 GMT -5
A few of the things I did to have something to write about are:
One morning I woke up before the sunrise, fixed a cup of coffee, grabbed my camera, my pen , paper, still in my pajamas and took a walk over to the beach. I sat there and watched the sunrise while capturing it on film, I took pictures of the morning seagulls and of the gentle waves coming in. While I sat there I wrote to Lonnie about all I was experiencing in as much detail as I could. when I got home I immediately printed out the pictures and got them and the letter in the mail that day.
Another one was an airshow that was taking place right over the bay where I live and i did the very same thing. You would be surprised how much small detail you can find to write about if you really put all your heart into it.
Lonnie expressed how much it meant to him that I did these things.
Use your imagination and you'd be surprised how much joy you can bring into their lives. And really, into your own as well because I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
hugs,
Pam
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kaspa
Doin' Time
Posts: 51
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Post by kaspa on Jun 23, 2005 16:58:02 GMT -5
Like Pam says be creative with your replies...whenever I am away somewhere new on vacation I always make sure I take pictures so I can write about my time away and I always make sure I send a postcard from my travels...that is more so that if my photographic skills let me down they always have a great pic to look at! The guys I write to love that I do that for them. |
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Post by Maggie on Jun 24, 2005 8:15:41 GMT -5
A few of the things I did to have something to write about are: One morning I woke up before the sunrise, fixed a cup of coffee, grabbed my camera, my pen , paper, still in my pajamas and took a walk over to the beach. I sat there and watched the sunrise while capturing it on film, I took pictures of the morning seagulls and of the gentle waves coming in. While I sat there I wrote to Lonnie about all I was experiencing in as much detail as I could. when I got home I immediately printed out the pictures and got them and the letter in the mail that day. Another one was an airshow that was taking place right over the bay where I live and i did the very same thing. You would be surprised how much small detail you can find to write about if you really put all your heart into it. Lonnie expressed how much it meant to him that I did these things. Use your imagination and you'd be surprised how much joy you can bring into their lives. And really, into your own as well because I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. hugs, Pam Pam that is an excellent idea about the sunrise and taking pictures. I think I will do that tomorrow morning. One of my pen-pals loves animals.... all animals.... and I am also an animal lover. I have two guinea pigs that just had a litter of babies. They are so cute and I've already taken a bunch of pics to send her. Nicky another thing I have been doing is copying news articles into some of my letters..... for example my one pen pal likes to discuss politics.... turns out we both share the same (cough) feelings for Bush ;D so I've been including some current event stuff for him..... the copy/paste function is great for that! |
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