Posts by StevieRay Hansen
A New Life
The next time we met at an ice cream parlor. I was going to make sure we took our time getting to know one another. I was already smitten by the time I realized that things would never work out for us. Laura held a master’s degree in biology. She’d worked for 15 years as a biologist and taught at a university. When I met Laura, I was destitute. I lived in a garage apartment which had once been the maid’s quarters behind someone’s home. Laura was educated; a success in her field. Her parents weren’t rich, but they had money in the bank.I was flat broke.
Read MoreOn The Road Again
I thought my heart was going to jackhammer its way out of my chest that blustery spring day in 1991 when I was released from High Desert State Prison. I knew without a doubt that it had been the grace of God that had kept me alive and protected for five years and seven months.…
Read MoreFree At Last
A chill rippled down my spine as I put the prison vehicle into gear and drove toward the guard tower. My mouth felt dry knowing that I was in the crosshairs of several rifles.I stopped at the gate and showed the guard my papers. He inspected the vehicle and then waved me through. A mile…
Read MoreFamily reunion
CHAPTER EIGHT FAMILY REUNION I heard the guard unlock my cell in solitary confinement. “Let’s go,” he said. “Your lawyer’s here.” Wearing an orange jumpsuit, I was handcuffed and led to a dingy little room that was like a palace compared to my 4 x 6 cell. I’d had plenty of time to think and…
Read MoreToo much time to think
I felt like a wounded animal that someone had kicked in the head. Back in my cell, I dropped onto my bed and closed my eyes. Pain throbbed from a place so deep that I couldn’t feel it most days. Being in prison had left me feeling vulnerable – a dangerous situation where my family…
Read MorePrison Yard
If I got out of prison and chased money like a god again so I could spend it on attorneys, I knew what would happen. The last vestige of humanity would be stripped from my soul. The way I saw it, the decisions I made here in prison would determine what I did for the…
Read MoreKentucky Home
KENTUCKY HOME I pulled the car seat as close to the steering wheel as it would go. That old Ford jerked and shuddered as I drove away. I had no idea how to get to Kentucky. I just knew it was somewhere to the east. Turning my back on Ontario and all the misery I’d…
Read MoreTumbling down
Crystal champagne flutes clinked amid conversation on the terrace of the country club where lights twinkled in the trees. We’d taken Luann’s parents to dinner where, following a round of toasts, my mother-in-law slipped her arm around me.“I’m so proud of you,” she said. I smiled, but in truth I almost passed out.“That means a…
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