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Hosted by SRPMIC Assistant Community Manager, Lena Jackson-Eckert, this podcast takes a closer look at the programs, services, and people that help shape our Community. From everyday resources to unique stories and conversations, we’re here to share what matters. So let’s go ahead and zoom in.
Content warning. You may notice a different tone in these next few episodes of Lena's Lens. It's a little bit of a change of what you're used to. It includes discussions on grief, trauma, and other emotionally heavy topics, as well as profanity. So please listen with care.
Lena:Welcome back to Lena's Lens. I'm Lena Jackson Eckert, Assistant Community Manager for the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community. And you're listening to a special miniseries featuring the Therapeutic Writing Program at the Salt River Department of Corrections, a twelve week class developed by Councilwoman Suk Fowaldner and supported by our Behavioral Health Team and Reentry Services Supervisor, Nicolette Parrish. In Episode I, you heard the first set of individual readings from Andrew Carlisle, Nathan Antone, and Eric Wood. Today we continue with the remaining writings, pieces from Adam Jackson, Wayne Butler, and Brian Butler.
Lena:Both Adam and Brian chose to write and share two of their many pieces they created during the program. Each writing offers a different entry point into their experiences, their grief, and the choices they're working to change. Let's begin with our next set of readings.
Adam:My name is Adam Brian Jackson Sr, and I am 38 years old, and I'm a Pisces. I'm I'm from Salt River. I'm I'm Ottum, and I'm Piposh. And
Lena:yeah. Alright. So I understand you have two readings for us today.
Adam:I do. Yes.
Lena:Alright. Go ahead and get started. What's your first one?
Adam:Alright. So my first one is, was written on Monday, 06/01/2026. It says, this writing is dedicated to my sons, Adam Brian Jackson Jr. And Aiden Christopher Jackson. And all my nieces and nephews, Adriana, Jared, Davis Junior, Analia, Ezekiel, Raymond, Angel, Emmett, Elijah, Elliot, Jesus, Xavier Junior, Zander Zane, Veronica, Taylor, Joey, Zoe, and Sid, and Yasik, and equally important to all the youth of the Salt River, Pima, Maricopa Indian community.
Adam:And it's titled, please do as I say, not as I do. I, so I I say this because I love you all from the top sides and bottom of my heart. I want nothing but the best for you all in regards to living the most successful, happy, healthy, sober, and meaningful lives you can because you're worth it. The message I wanna share with you all is about breaking cycles in our families. Most importantly, the negative cycle of alcoholism and drug addiction.
Adam:I myself am an alcoholic and a drug addict, so I know firsthand the sad, painful agony and negative consequences that come from addiction, such as ending up feeling sad, hopeless, angry, and depressed, hurting my mother by having her watch me slowly destroy and kill myself with drugs and alcohol, Not being a good father to my sons, Adam and Aiden. Hurting them by not being there for them. Some negative consequences from my addiction are ending up in on probation or in jails, in prisons, overdosing, getting into fist fights, losing the family's trust as well as their respect, turning into a liar, a cheater, a thief. All of this firsthand knowledge of myself that I am sharing with you all is a direct result of my drinking and drugging. Please do as I say, not as I do or like I did.
Adam:I'll never tell any of you what to do, family or not. However, what I'm asking you all is to please do as I say and not as I did. Here are the dos and the don'ts. I respectfully ask you to do good and have respect for yourself and others. Take your schooling seriously.
Adam:Education is important to being successful and getting a good paying job. Be independent. Always be yourself. If you can't be a leader, by all means, definitely don't ever become a follower. Be assertive.
Adam:Always stand up for what's right and not wrong. Don't ever give in to peer pressure. There's nothing cool about drugs or alcohol. So be true to yourself always. So again, please do as I say and not as I do or I did.
Adam:Try your best to not ever get involved with drugs and alcohol because nothing good will ever come from being an alcoholic or a drug addict. Furthermore, I would like to share a few more quick pieces of advice with you. Always be first. Be first to tell someone good morning, hello, or smile at them. Always be first to say sorry when you're in the wrong.
Adam:Be first to help someone who needs help and always wear your seat belt for reals, it could save your life. And last but not least, if you are involved with drugs or alcohol, please just know that there is plenty of help out there. You just have to want it and you just have to ask for it. So don't ever be afraid to ask for help. I recently read this quote in a self help book called Leap of Power, and I guess it's from Pooh's Great Adventure by Christopher Robin.
Adam:It says, you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. So keep that in mind. To whatever end, always be true to yourself. Yours truly, Adam Brian Jackson, Sr.
Lena:Nice. Thank you for sharing that.
Adam:You're welcome.
Lena:How did it feel to read that?
Adam:It feels good because I have, like, I have this sense that even though I'm still not well, like, and I'm trying to recover from my problems or, you know, trying to start healing, that I always think I could fix other people or I have good advice, but I never take my own advice. So it feels good to be able to share this with others because I don't like the others said before, I don't want them to have to go down the same path I have as far as the negative consequences. Jail is like no place to be.
Lena:Right. Well, you talked about how you always like to try to save other people, but you have to be healthy too before you can save anybody, right?
Adam:That's correct. That's Yeah. In my next writing.
Lena:Go for it then.
Adam:Alrighty. This paper is titled A Better, Healthier Way to Grieve, A Letter for the Betterment of My Grief Healing by Adam Brian Jackson Sr. I wrote this on Monday, 06/29/2026, and it reads, to Maria Patrice Hodegy, also known as Peewee or Pdub. Yesterday was Adam Junior's fourteenth birthday. I called him and Aiden, and I asked them if there's anything they wanted to tell you.
Adam:Adam Junior said to tell you, mom, I love you, and I miss you. And I know that when you were alive, that you were the best mom in the world that you could be for us. And I remember that you had long black hair. Aiden said, mom, I love and I miss you, and I remember that you were really funny. In the same manner to Davis Jurelle Jackson senior, also known as Juki, Davis junior and Ezekiel just recently celebrated their nineteenth and seventeenth year old birthday.
Adam:I called him too. Little Juki said, I want to tell him that one thing that I'm going to always try to do is to do good for myself, then for my family. Also, I want to do everything he would want me to do, basically everything he didn't get a chance to do when he was alive. I just wanna make my dad proud. And Ezekiel said, he wants to tell you that he misses you and that he wants to do good and to do different, but that he really misses you.
Adam:Rest in peace and love, Pita Bijuki. It has been well over five years since I last physically saw the two of you, the beautiful, kind, funny mother of my children, Maria, my awesome, handsome, hilarious little brother, Jarelle Jackson Junior. I wish the both of you two did not have to leave us so sudden. The two of you brought so much joy and laughter into this world, and I'm pretty sure that you guys are still spreading that same laughter and joy on the other side. Brother Juki, remember the one story that the hilarious Veronica Jean Burke senior told us about Shaka's car catching on fire on Beeline Highway?
Adam:You were always able to tell that story so funny to the t. Shaka and V coming back from the river when his car catches on fire. Shaka standing on the side of the highway screaming at the top of his lungs, it's all I got. I don't even know who Shaka is, but that's a funny ass story. Peter, remember the time you sent me a text message with the picture and it read, look.
Adam:I found a wedding outfit for you. It was a picture of some black guy on the red carpet wearing a black tuxedo jacket with a matching long black ruffled skirt. Laugh out loud. I remember all the fun silly name nicknames you gave me. For instance, you originally gave me the nickname ABJ back in 2009 when we first met.
Adam:Then you started calling me Adam Jackson senior 2000 because you said I had an old soul and I acted like a senior citizen. Messed up. You used to also call me Gaylord Jackson. Remember when Aiden was five or six, he used to think that your name was Maria O'Brien because you called me Adam Bryan? Aiden is still so funny like you.
Adam:I swear there was never a dull moment with either of you. The two were so lively and fun to be around and both had a good sense of humor. P Dub and brothers Juki, you guys could really light up a room with just your presence. Sadly, my world has been a lot more lonelier without you two on Earth. And as I sit here in my cell and I cry because I miss and love you two so much, Watching my tears hit this page, I start to think that for reals, for reals, forget the jail talk.
Adam:And since love is an action word, something has to give, I cannot continue living this careless self destructive lifestyle of drinking and drugging my life to death. I really need to start living as a decent human being and stop living like a hostile alien in this world, treating everywhere, everything, and everyone like shit. I know that there is no right or wrong way to grieve. However, I'm starting to realize that there are healthier ways to grieve other than sitting at the graveyards all night, all high and drunk, missing you too dearly. I sense it's very necessary on the contrary to start being there both emotionally and physically for both Adam and Aiden, both Davis Junior and Ezekiel, because it's a better and healthier way to grieve for us to grieve your guys' death.
Adam:But I know as the old saying goes, I cannot help anyone until I help myself. So I do realize that if I cannot do right for myself, then I cannot do right for anyone else. I know I have to want the change for the betterment of myself. For my own sake, the word sake means to purposely end something for personal or social welfare, safety, or well-being. There's one old g in here, Nate, who likes to hate putting me on game about finding my why and my purpose.
Adam:My why is because, as the other old saying goes, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, and I deserve to give myself a higher standard of living living with happiness and joy along with my sons, Adam Junior and Aiden. And my purpose is to help others by sharing my experience, hope, and strength. Staying sober when I get out is a must. I need to just do it. I can do it.
Adam:In a sense, I'm like Doja Cat. I know I'm so much fun without Hennessy and that they just want my love and my energy. LOL. So I'm going to remain hopeful and to keep the faith that I can do better next time because I know all my problems have solutions. Also, I'm going to continue ask to ask my higher power, who I call God, which stands for good orderly direction, to grant me some kind of serenity to accept the things that I cannot change and the courage and the willingness to change the things that I can.
Adam:And, of course, the wisdom to know the difference, always ever trying to remind my controlling ass self to let his will be done for me and not mine. Today, I choose self love over self destruction. Furthermore, you know, at times, it's been kinda taboo to talk about the manner of death you two died from. Accidental drug overdoses are just plain tragic if you ask me because we all felt that it was not your time, but, obviously, God thought otherwise. Likewise, I'm a believer in nothing in God's world happens by mistake.
Adam:It took a long time to accept your debts, but acceptance has been a major key to my grief healing journey. Peter and Juki, you two are really beautiful inside and out. And this evil world needs more good people like you. Nevertheless, I believe that it is worth mentioning to the entire world of individuals who use and abuse drugs that drug overdoses are potential tragic consequences of our drugging. Sadly, we are not just hurting ourselves.
Adam:We are also hurting the ones we love and the ones who love us back. Rest in peace and love. Peter van Juki forever and ever. It says, to conclude, here's my poem of composition in verse to the ones I love and miss the most. Resting up in heaven with God, the almighty host.
Adam:Rest in peace, Maria Beatrice. Rest in love, Davis senior. Save for the pain and sorrow from your sudden deaths, I feel rest assured that you too have been saved from the sorrowful pain of drug addiction. So until we all three see each other on the other side, please spiritually never leave my side to whatever end. I will always love you too.
Adam:Rest up. Pete up and Chookie. Love, Adam.
Lena:Mhmm. Thank you for reading that.
Adam:Yes.
Lena:How did it feel to read your story?
Adam:It's, I've been reading it a lot lately. I think I read it five times today in the pod. But, I mean, I agree with Eric as far as like, yeah, there's like, don't ever let anybody tell you how to grieve because I know the way I was grieving was not healthy. I was like suppressing it. I feel sad, I guess, because I miss them.
Adam:And I kind of just don't want to start crying, but I just really do. And I think I can relate to a lot of what the other individuals said. Like, as far as, like, it's not my kids' fault that they're growing up in the system.
Lena:Mhmm.
Adam:But it's mine. You know? But, anyway, it's I don't know. It's it feels surreal because I've never done anything like this, but I feel like I know that there's other people out there grieving the same way. And like Eric said, they're not alone, you know?
Lena:Yeah. Do you think it was healing at all for you?
Adam:It was, yes. Yeah, it has been.
Lena:Yeah. So if you were hoping that somebody would get one message, what would that be?
Adam:Same as Eric, you're not alone. Know, like There's no right or wrong way to grieve, but there are healthier ways. Counseling, River People has grief counselors, I'm sure. Yeah. I'm just, you're not alone, you know?
Adam:And then like, too, like I have a lot of nieces and nephews who are like right now going down the wrong path and it's heartbreaking and can't tell them nothing because they're kids, you know, like they think they know it all. But, but the day I stopped telling them, you know, to like, like the day I stopped telling them, don't drink, don't drug is like the day I stopped caring about them. So I'm never going to stop telling them.
Adam:And yeah.
Lena:Well, hopefully they hear what your words and take it to heart.
Adam:I hope so too.
Lena:Or somebody does.
Adam:No, for reals. Yeah.
Lena:Well, thank you for sharing. I appreciate your emotions and I appreciate your honesty.
Adam:Yes. Thank you, Lena.
Wayne:My name is Wayne Butler. Pima, Apache, German, Irish, and Jamaican.
Lena:Oh, wow.
Wayne:From Salt River but I group in Phoenix.
Lena:Okay. Well, welcome. Thanks for being here. Thankful. I understand you have two readings also today,
Wayne:Yes.
Lena:Alright. Go ahead and start with your first one.
Wayne:Okay. Neither of them have titles,
Lena:so That's okay.
Wayne:Why do I only feel whole when I'm with somebody that is as broken as me? When I'm with them, everything is brand new, but that only lasts for just a moment. When all the broken pieces start to put themselves back together, I start to shatter them because self sabotage is my real drug. It's a old favorite friend, but there is a light at the tunnel because I know my broken pieces will put themselves back together one day and be held forever, one step at a time, left foot then right foot, then they're there.
Lena:Nice.
Wayne:This is
Wayne:my first one.
Lena:Thank you. How did it feel to read that?
Wayne:Scary. I'm not able to speak in front of people.
Lena:So what do you hope that if you could have one message from your reading, what do you hope that would be for others?
Wayne:That you're not the only one lost. Being lost is just being somewhere you haven't found yet. So just look for something bright.
Lena:Yeah. It's good advice. All right. You want to read your second one?
Wayne:Yes. Thank you. Dreams of you haunt me. Memories of us torture me because you were always there when I was having a fucked up day or when I lost my loved ones. You were there.
Wayne:You were all you would always pull me out of the sadness of never feeling like I fit in or belonged. I knew that I could always turn to you, Drowning my pain with your cold kisses and your ice cold breath starts to fill my lungs, numbing my brain, never realizing that you were slowly killing me. But at the time, I would have welcomed death because I was never scared to die, but I was terrified of losing you. Because I knew if I lost you, I would have to face the world in my life with open eyes and a clear mind. I know now that I have to let you go because I know that I don't need you and that I never really did.
Wayne:I started to clear my mind of thoughts of drinking and getting high, but when these thoughts and feelings started to come back, I have my sword and my shield to fight and defeat them. I'm still not scared to death because I know where I'm going after this life. But what truly terrifies the fuck out of me is losing what I know about life and what I have. My family, my friends, and the strength to truly love myself, scars and all. A letter to alcohol and drugs.
Lena:That's beautiful. Thank you.
Wayne:Thank you.
Lena:How did it feel to read that?
Wayne:Same. Scared. Mhmm. But before, I wouldn't have been thinking like that. But whatever happens, happens.
Wayne:But now I'm starting to, how would you say it? Just because I'm getting older and getting tired of all this, want something actually new.
Lena:Would you say that's what inspired you to write it, is getting older?
Wayne:Yes. Starting to see there is something brighter at the end of this tunnel.
Lena:Nice. Were there any challenges that you faced when you wrote that?
Wayne:Not really. Just this part, I have to saying it out loud. Yeah.
Lena:But is there, like, some healing that you feel from reading it out loud?
Wayne:Yeah. It's like looking in the mirror and actually seeing myself now. It's not all blurry. Can tell who's there.
Lena:Oh, yeah. That's nice. It's powerful. Well, thank you for sharing.
Wayne:Thank you.
Brian:My name is Brian Butler. I've been here at the DLC for four years, and I have two years left. But I've made a lot of great changes. Mhmm. I've personally, I feel that I've I've came a long way from the '27 year old me that walked in here.
Brian:I'm 31 now. And I just realized who I've become in here is is what I wanna be out there.
Lena:Mhmm. Nice. Well, go ahead and start, reading what you got for us today.
Brian:Alright. Thank you. I, titled this, An Absent Dad. I feel this this is to my kids, Casey, Braylen, and Cassidy. At the beginning of my time, they didn't know what was going on and why dad was gone.
Brian:Mhmm. I've always had my kids. But I feel that this title is right because being absent in their life is has been hard for them.
Lena:Mhmm.
Brian:Especially Casey. She's the oldest, so she understands now what's going on. So alright. It says, to my kids, I hope someday you'll hear this. Kids, I know you don't understand the severity of my absence in your life right now, and I'm sorry for that.
Brian:As I wake up every morning and look at the pictures I have of you kids, it's a reminder how much I've lost out on. The one to two phone calls I get with you isn't enough in a month. The 12 visits I've had with you these past four years is heartbreaking because your kids are so close to me from this place, I don't understand it. But I want you kids to understand one thing. It's nobody's fault but dad's fault.
Brian:The choices that dad made hurt other people as well. And to those other people, I want you to know I'm sorry for the pain that I caused. Kids, my time away has been used wisely. I've managed to receive a small business management certificate will be receiving an associate's in arts soon. Understand places like this are made to change or break people, but I have found a way to stay focused and motivated to continue my positive mindset and personal growth is at an all time high, both physically and mentally.
Brian:You three keep me going. I'm breaking cycles and creating new ones. I'm breaking cycles for myself first, then for you three second. I will show you kids that even though dad made mistakes, I learned how to make a positive impact through this experience. Casey, you're my world.
Brian:Bea, you are my heart. And, Cass, you are me, son. But someday, I'll show you how to be a better me when that time comes. But for now, I want you kids to be good. Listen to your mother.
Brian:Keep doing well in school and always look out after one another. To my little wolves, I love you.
Lena:Thank you. Was beautiful.
Brian:Thank you.
Lena:Congratulations on your certificates and AA degree. Right?
Brian:Yeah. Thank you.
Lena:That's awesome. So how did it feel to read that?
Brian:It felt good. As I was reading this and as I, well, started writing this, I learned how to, like, forgive myself.
Lena:So there was some healing in there.
Brian:Yeah, it was. I was hard on myself being here and, you know, just seeing how, like, I grew up. You know, I didn't I didn't meet my dad until, like, maybe 21. I actually met him through my sisters. I was at my grandpa James' house, and my sisters live across the way.
Brian:And I just took a chance on introducing myself. And I had thought my dad lived there, but he didn't. He lived elsewhere. And they took me to him, and, it really changed. You know?
Brian:Growing up, I always had my mom's side of the family. But since I've been in here, like, my dad and, my sisters have been there a lot. And my mother passed away in in 2023. I was I was here, when she passed away. And, you know, a lot of a lot of that, I felt guilty.
Brian:Mhmm. Just missing missing the you know, a day where it's sort of your last singer.
Lena:Mhmm.
Brian:It kinda I took it personal, and I was like, dang. If I had never done this or if I didn't go out that night or if I just went back to work instead of calling off and telling my boss, like, my car's broke. Like, you know, there was all these would ifs that I coulda did. And, you know, I can't take it back. I've learned to accept accept it, and I'm learning from it.
Brian:And I'm just being patient. My time my time is like I said, I've been using it wisely with schooling, and it's important for those, you know, that are going through similar things. There are dads out there, that's why, that do take care of their kids, and and they don't get enough credit for that. You know? It's always, a one-sided thing with some mothers, like, choosing not to be like, oh, yeah.
Brian:He does take care of his kids or he does get his kids this. Or when they ask, like, it is there. You know? So I it felt good writing this, and it feels good being able to talk about it because that is, something I'd like for others to know that that that there are great men out there that are yeah. Actually doing Yeah.
Brian:You know? And, you know, most of the time or pretty much all the time, like, the dads that are doing stuff like that, they don't do it for recognition. They do it because they're dads. Yeah. You know?
Brian:Like, it's just there's a lot of lot of good dudes that I know that I've met in here, and and I see how they take care of their kids. And they're we're constantly making phone calls like, oh, hey. They they need this. They need that. And, you know?
Brian:So I think it's good to just get that out there because, like I said, it's something that kinda gets pushed under the table when it comes to dads out here on the reservation. And there's a lot of great mothers too that are doing the same thing. Know? They're doing it by themselves as well. It's hard to raise kids.
Brian:Yeah. And It for, you know, single parents or just in general, anybody, you know, especially with everything being so pricey and, you know, it's a struggle, you know? So I want to applaud all those, you know, mothers and dads that are doing what they need to do to make sure that their kids get what they need and providing, you know, is important.
Lena:So if would that be your one message that you want others to hear when they hear your story, or do you have another message you want people to hear?
Brian:I think my message is, for those that are incarcerated, like, a father or a mother that has to do time or makes a choice, and they feel that that choice is like the end of the road for them. Like, this is it. Like, I'm going to be doing this time, and I'm not going to do nothing. I think just getting out of that mindset of, I guess, calling yourself a failure, it's really not that. I first got here, it took me two years to finally get back into school.
Brian:2014, I was going to Scottsdale Community College, but after that, I just dropped out, and I was like, Yeah, that ain't it. But as soon as I picked up something like that, I I felt better about what I was doing and the accomplishments that I've made so far. And the certificate for the small business was like, Cool. Like, I did something, And you and it was like, What could I do next?
Brian:What could I do next? To show my kids that, like I said, I I I've made an impact, a positive impact, that they can turn around and be like, oh, well, my dad did that in there. You know? Look at him now. Because, I mean, I plan to own my own business someday.
Brian:You know? Like, I I I will. You know? I will. And and I think for people that are going through the struggle of, like, single parenting, you know, it's it's it's tough.
Brian:It's hard. I think you just keep pushing on, you know? Doing making sacrifices is, like, a big thing because, you know, like, one of my friends, Eric, his poem was about being spoiled, and and I don't think there's anything wrong with being spoiled. Mhmm. You know?
Brian:I think our kids should have everything they want. Yeah. You know? And and sometimes just teaching them the value of things is what's most important because some kids get out of hand and they just expect, expect. And if you don't raise your children to understand, like, Hey, you gotta work for that.
Brian:Or go put in the work. Go cut the yard or go pick up the trash. You know? Like, teach them something.
Lena:Some work ethic.
Brian:Yeah. You know? Because, yeah, my grandpa did it for me. You know, I had to do his yard, and I had to come to my uncle's yard next door. And, you know, I had to get, like, $10.15 bucks.
Brian:Mhmm. So it was cool, you know? Like, I plan to do that once I leave this place because I mean, not saying that I was wasn't doing it in the beginning, but I realized as I wrote this how absent I was even though I was physically there because my weekends was I worked in California Monday through Friday. I'd come home Friday through Sunday. And Friday through Sunday, I was drunk.
Brian:You know? Like, that's why, like, I felt I was still absent. You know? Like, yeah, my physical body was there, but I was mentally checked Yeah. You know, I can't say I was any better then, you know?
Brian:Like Mhmm. But I've grown. I've learned, and I'm in acceptance of what I used to do. I feel if I can look past that and just forgive myself for that, then I have something, like, great to look forward to. You know?
Brian:And I tell my kids all the time that I love them. You know? Like, when we do speak, you know, I don't get many phone calls with them. And I've I've been here four years, I've only had 12 visits with them. And it's it's hard, you know, because I see people get visits all the time, and I'm like, dang.
Brian:You know? Like but I'm happy for them, you know? Like, I'm happy when someone comes, like, oh, my kids came. Like, cool, cool. You know?
Lena:Yeah.
Brian:So I I I just wanna be able to take all this, what I've learned, and just put some actions behind my words because I feel it's a waste of time if we're just writing all this and and then we go back out to the same thing. Or if I personally myself go back out to doing the same stuff that I was doing. Because at the end of the day, it's just a it's just like a I don't care about my kids type of situation because I can say all this and read this to you. And if I turn around and run into you and I'm, like, down bad, you're like, hey, what happened?
Brian:You know, it's just like I'd I'd feel embarrassed, you know? So I just wanna be able to take take this experience of this six years and and show people that I I I did something great for myself, you know, because it didn't end here. Like, even though I lost my mother, I missed the the birth of my son, like, I it's never too late, know? Yeah. And like I said, I'll be, like, 33 when I get out, just barely turning 33.
Lena:Still young.
Brian:Yeah. Have of time. I have a lot
Brian:of time. So I plan to use it wisely. I plan to make some changes and show my kids that that, you know, there's nothing that they can't do. You know? Whatever it whatever we go through, you know, you just gotta make the best of it.
Brian:And and and they're gonna fall, they're gonna they're gonna fail, you'll but that's life, you know? Like, they have to experience that as well. Like, just like I did, I failed. I failed as a dad because I should always be there for them. Should have been there, and I I'm not.
Brian:So I just wanna tell them, you know, if they do get to hear this, that I love them. You know? I miss them. There's not a day that that doesn't go by where I don't think about the kids. And but I'll be home soon, you know?
Lena:Well thank you. I Thank appreciate you.
Lena:And I
Lena:look forward to seeing what the future has in store for you and all of you guys.
Brian:Thank you, thank you.
Lena:Thanks. Thank you for listening to the second half of the readings. Today, you heard powerful pieces from Adam Jackson, Wayne Butler, and Brian Butler. As we wrap up this second readings episode, I want to acknowledge the courage it took for each of the men to share their writing with us. These pieces were deeply personal, shaped by lived experiences.
Lena:With all seven readings now complete, the miniseries continues. In the next three episodes, you'll hear the group conversations, honest roundtable discussions, where the men talk about what these writings brought up for them, their hopes, their fears, their families, the cycles they've determined to break, and the futures they want to build. If you have any questions or feedback about this series, you can reach us at lenaslen@srpmic dash nsn dot gov. Thank you for joining us, and we'll see you in the next episode.