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was different though from all the other times that I had been locked up. I had people out there that I cared about, and worried about. When I got the news that I was a father I broke down and cried harder than I had ever cried before. Here I am in a room full of some of the toughest guys that I had ever seen crying like a baby. It was then that I decided to change my life around.

I missed the first five months of my daughter's life because I was in prison. Because I had always put myself first I missed the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, my daughter's birth. When I got out I promised myself, my future wife, and my daughter that I would never spend another day away from them due to me being in prison.

I have to admit that the promises that I made that I made to my family have been the hardest promises that I have ever kept. At least once a day I get tempted to do something illegal. I believe that that is due more to conditioning than being a bad person. Everything today is a choice for me. And I choose to do the right thing rather than the wrong thing. There is no way that I will go back to the lifestyle that I used to lead. Today my daughter looks at me and sees a father, not a criminal. The same goes for my wife, my neighbors, and everyone else that I come into contact with.

In closing I have to say this: I used to be a criminal but I am a criminal no longer. Everyone has the ability to change, and some of us do.

Learn more about this author, Stephen Douglas.
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