The ties that bind us sometimes surprise us with whom we feel bound to. A common experience can make us feel close to someone we might have held at arm’s length.
It was this quote from the story that made me feel connected to a self-confessed convicted killer.
Atkins gave birth to a son while living at Spahn Ranch, an old movie set, with other members of the Manson family. While she was on death row, she wrote, he was legally taken from her because no one in her family was willing to raise him.
“His name and identity have been changed and sealed, so I have no idea where he is or how he is doing,” she wrote. “I have since been told his name was changed to Paul, and whether or not that is true I like it. … My continuing separation from my son, even after all these years, remains an incredibly poignant and enduring loss.”
