The nipping and chilly air of winter has come to San Quentin which is a reminder to many of us of the holiday seasons of long ago.
Asked on the Line conducted brief informal interviews with men on the mainline and asked: If you could go back in time and repeat a winter holiday season, how old are you again? Where are you? Who are you with?
“I remember that me and my brother got motorbikes for Christmas and I started mine up, right in the living room with my pajamas on”
This question brought up many joyous holiday memories for the men in blue.
Of the 16 men interviewed, 12 would go back to a time in their childhood.
Jesus Flores would go back to when he was five years old, Kevin Sawyer and Christopher Scull would go back to when they were seven, and Ishmael Wesley would go back to when he was eight.
“I remember Christmas when I was five,” said Flores, who was in Palo Alto with his parents and siblings. “That’s the year I got the most presents!”
Sawyer was in San Francisco with his parents and siblings. “Those were the days of humble beginnings,” said Sawyer.
Scull was in Fontana, California with his parents and his brothers. “I had gotten my first BMX bike!” said Scull.
Wesley was at home in Richmond with his two brothers and his two sisters. “I remember that there was glitter on the floor and we were watching the Charlie Brown Christmas and roasting marshmallows in the fire.”
Steven Pascascio would go back to when he was 10, Adrian Ramirez would go back to when he was 13 and Orlando Harris would go back to when he was 16 years old.
Five men would want to be 12 years old again: Valeray Richardson, Fannon Figgers, Arturo Avalos, Rico Rogers, and Eddie Delapena.
Four men would return to when they were younger adults. Billy Terry would be 18 again, Lawrence Patterson would be 24, Darryl Hill would be 36, and Dwight Krizman would be 42 years old again.
Pascascio was in Belize with his family opening presents, Rogers was in San Francisco with his parents, and Avalos was in Guadalajara, Mexico celebrating Christmas with his parents.
Delapena said, “I remember I was with my parents and relatives in the Philippines. We gathered on Christmas Eve and we ate at midnight.”
Richardson was in Los Angeles with his siblings. “I remember that me and my brother got motorbikes for Christmas and I started mine up, right in the living room with my pajamas on!” said Richardson.
Figgers remembers being in Chicago. “I was visiting my father for Christmas. It was a turning point in my life.”
Ramirez was celebrating Christmas with his family. “We had decorated the house and had helped mom cook tamales, posole, menudo, and persimmon cookies.”
Orlando Harris was in East Oakland with his mom. Harris said, “I remember that a family friend had come over for Christmas. She was a childhood friend that I had a crush on. She had come into my room while I was asleep and woke me up to spend the day with me.”
Krizman was at his in-laws house in Farmington, New Mexico. He was with his five-year-old son. “He saw snow for the first time. We helped him on a treasure hunt in the snow. Santa and the elves had hid his presents in the snow!” said Krizman.
Hill was in Oakland with his wife Felicia and their four children. “We were all home together for Christmas. It was the last time I got to spend with my wife before she passed away,” said Hill.
Patterson celebrated Christmas in Wasco, California with his daughter Vanessa and his daughter’s mother Esther.
Terry celebrated and enjoyed Christmas alone in San Francisco.