After 30 Years He Sent His First Text Ever
Last week, "L" came home after serving 30 years.
He was happy. He was nervous. He was overwhelmed…and honestly, that makes complete sense when you stop and think about just how much the world has changed since 1996.
Thirty years ago, the Billboard Top 100 was dominated by "Macarena," Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day," and Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me." Beanie Babies were flying off shelves. AOL dial-up was hitting 5 million subscribers. And Motorola had just released the very first flip phone (shoutout to the Motorola StarTac).
Fast forward to today, and Billboard's top songs include artists like Ella Langley and Olivia Dean…both born in 1999. Bruno Mars, who was only 10 years old when "L" started his sentence, is still putting out chart-toppers. Cassette tapes are now collectibles. Over 6 billion people browse the internet at high speed. And there have been more than 50 different iPhone models released.
Times have changed. Dramatically. The overwhelm "L" felt was real. The hesitation around technology was real.
But here's what we also know: connecting with the people we love has always been a necessity, no matter what era we're living in.
That's exactly why the work our team does matters so much. RISE Community Navigator Jason Kotas was there at the facility the moment "L" walked out. He brought him to our office, sat with him, and taught him how to use his very first cell phone. He took him out to a nice lunch where "L" could actually look at a menu and pick whatever he wanted. And then he helped get him settled into the transitional home where he'll be living until he's ready to move into a place of his own.
So when "L" held that little brick of technology in his hand for the first time, he was nervous. He told us it felt strange – suddenly being so accessible to the world after years of having almost none of that in prison. But when he decided to try sending his very first text message ever, he knew exactly who it was going to and exactly what it would say.
It was simple. It was huge. It was something he had been waiting years to send:
