Welcome to Breaking Free, a mother-son co-blog.
Who are we?
Anne lives in St. Paul, Minnesota and works for an international human rights organization.
Vince is incarcerated in a state prison, also in Minnesota.
Why are we writing this blog?
- It’s a project we can work on together.
- It gives Vince and Anne a voice.
- It’s an outlet through which we can vent our fears, hopes, shame, amusement, and bemusement.
What will we write about?
Observations on daily life in prison. The Prison Industrial Complex. Mandatory minimum drug sentencing. What brought Vince here, what it’s like being his mom on the outside. The family disease of addiction. Conjecturing on the causes of, solutions to, and meaning of it all.
Why “Breaking Free?”
Besides the obvious prison reference, the title Breaking Free refers to the suggestion that anyone can find contentment and even happiness, even someone in prison, even someone whose kid is in prison. Anne would say she has lived life to the max. Vince will avoid that reference.
Click here to start at the first post.
Welcome, enjoy, and please share comments and links!
Fifteen months later: Vince is now out of prison and doing well. He has started his own blog, Fixing Broken. I blog on, mostly about travel, the search for meaning and purpose, and occasionally, about mass incarceration.
If you would like to read this blog in one convenient place, please visit Amazon and purchase the book version in either paperback ($14.99) or ebook format ($3.99).
And thank you for reading!
Breaking Free 
Hello Anne and Vince, I want to congratulate you about this great idea, nobody is the owner of the truth, you have to live your own experience to be able to give an opinion about it. There is not a “how to be a parent” class, so everybody has to learn the hard way. Is good to have a good relation between parents and children. Tolerance is a great tool, yes you need to know when to fight your rights, but there is a balance, the way to find it is your job.
Congrats!!!
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what is your email. i would like to talk with you.
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Hi Craig, these comments go straight to my email and I prefer to communicate this way until I know someone. Nothing personal. Thanks for reading, Anne
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Anne and Vince,
Thank you for sharing your story and the truth behind what some of us experience. Sometimes you have to experience it for yourself in order to see the truth behind what others go through. Your honesty and experiences helps those who can relate feel like they aren’t alone in their struggles. I hope to write a blog of my own in the future. Yours is an inspiration!
Love,
Your niece/cousin
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