by Gigi Taylor
“You have been assigned this mountain to show others it can be moved.”
That is a quote my dear PW (Prison Wife) bestie, soul sister, and fellow blogger, Kim, sent to me one bright and early July morning. I saved that quote because I was not fully sure what my mountain could be. It did not hit me until I was approached by a film producer, that my mountain was fighting the stigma of being an “in the closet” Death Row Prison Wife and loving a man with a death sentence looming over his head.
My mountain, my climb, and my purpose would be to bring our love story to life in a documentary. I had been blessed to be apart of the documentary “Met While is documentary struck me as a special honor because it would show the love behind the bars and help break the stigma of women who fall in love with men who are incarcerated.
I was introduced to the idea around August, and of course, Hubby Bear and I discussed if we wanted to do this since I am technically “in the closet.” But we agreed that our story could help others in similar situations and show the world that love is really a beautiful thing, even if it is found in some very hopeless, dark places. We wanted to show the world our love and how it changed us, making us both better people. We wanted to show that, yes, our relationship is not “normal,” but we try and bring a sense of normalcy into it whenever possible.
For some reason, when I was filming that weekend in October, I just knew that my mountain was to put to the forefront the issues of mass incarceration and the dehumanization of inmates all across this country. That, within the cold concrete, metal bars, and barb wire…there was a place of love and hope. It was spent that weekend holding my Hubby Bear in my arms and having him spend the weekend with me. His love reached the one-hundred-and-seventy-five miles from his “condo” to my hometown. It was truly an eye-opening, amazing experience, and one that I can say was an honor to be apart of.
* Gigi
