As another year is born, I recall two years ago when I was obsessed with the words of dying men.

You may remember, when a gentleman by the name of Rodney Reed was all over the internet.

He was convicted in the state of Texas back in 1998, for the 1996 rape and murder of a 19-year woman named Stacey Stites.

He was scheduled to be executed in 2019; however, there was a large outcry from celebrities and social media, as there may have been evidence pointing to his innocence.

During that time, a YouTuber pointed out Texas’ Death Row section on their Department of Criminal Justice website.

Texas seems to exude this exuberant pride in the execution of inmates.

I say this because I researched other states’ death row pages and they don’t seem to come off like I’m reading an ESPN stats booklet.

History, styles of execution, and even how many sets of brothers were executed.

I stayed up all night one evening, as surprisingly, you can even view the last words of the inmates before they left this earth.

I read every single one of them.

. . .there is something sobering about reading a man’s dying words

It was a different kind of experience for me.

You could feel the emotion leap off the screen.

Most were remorseful, some were angry, a few even proclaimed their innocence to the very end, some said nothing at all.

I understand these men and women were convicted of some of the worst crimes humanly possible.

But . . . they were still human.

There is still respect to be had for the human experience, even for those in prison.

They were people with hope and dreams that, somewhere on their path, decided to make a life-altering decision that could never be undone.

I’m not here to argue politics around the death penalty, I just think there is something sobering about reading a man’s dying words.

We all are going to leave this place; death is inevitable.

It hopefully will not come in the form of the death penalty, but it will come.

Our final words won’t be on display.

But I pray you fulfil your ambitions and that your actions until your final breath are intentional.

Though unorthodox, I hope this serves as a subtle reminder.

Happy New Year.

Weather Your Storm, Maintain Inner Reign -E.