Forgiven but Not Free

Jere’My J. Rankins MA
5 min readJul 12, 2020

I was 19 years of age when I took my first cold shower, but it wasn’t for reasons you may suspect. I was extremely embarrassed and humiliated while shivering under the fluid ice as it pierced my soul. No doors, no walls, no privacy to shield me from the shame I felt from being exposed to both men and women correctional officers. This was the awakening of my new reality… Prison.