Dear Matt:

I find myself thinking a lot about you and your family today. Maybe because of the hurricane coming to Mississippi or maybe because of the hurricane that has already blown through. And I am not talking about Isaac or Katrina. ELLA is the hurricane to come. Murder is the hurricane that has already blown through.

I know I don’t have to explain all that to you any more than I have to explain my thoughts to Ella. I have to explain because I am going to share my letter to you with the world when I finish writing it. Forgive me. You know, as well as I do, how important it is for those of us who have been silenced to find our voice again.

I have all these thoughts swirling in my head about Mississippi, Matt, thoughts inspired by meeting you, so I decided I would write you to help me un-swirl them, clarify them, and then methodically set about turning every single inspired thought concerning Mississippi I have, because of you, into a reality.

Some readers may be thinking I’m crazier than they originally thought with all this talk of meeting you, since Mississippi murdered you before I ever had the chance to look you in the eye to tell you, “I am here to make them care.”

But we have met, haven’t we?

Some readers may decide they were right to think I was crazier than they suspected after reading how we met, but so what, Matt? I’m moving to Mississippi to make them care, not diagnose my mental health status, so…

Gather Ella on your lap, call all our friends and loved ones I can no longer reach to your side, and help me tell everyone the story of how I came to write a letter to you, that turned into a blog, aptly titled, I Love You Matt Puckett…Here I Come…

Once upon a time, coinciding with what would have been her daughter’s 10^th birthday, there was a woman in Texas who went crazy and decided to drive to Mississippi to meet the mother of a man named Matt Puckett. It seemed the sanest thing to do at the time. Both of these women had children who had been murdered. One child had been murdered, by her brother, five years before Matt, who was murdered by the state of Mississippi, two months before the crazy woman arrived. Both mothers needed the other, even though they could not know that at the time.

One day during the crazy mother’s three-day stay, Mary, Matt’s mother, took her to a garden Matt’s family is in the process of creating, a garden in memory of Matt. Crazy mom felt Matt there and promised him she would come back when she had time to herself, promised she would come back to talk to him in private, come back to open her heart to him, so he could share with her what he was hoping for when he told his mother to make them care moments before he took his last breath, far from anyone’s loving arms.

Crazy mom went back to the garden the next day. The Puckett’s were off doing what they do best: living life as best they could, going to work, loving their children, and missing Matt. So crazy mom called to Ella, the daughter she had missed so long it was driving her crazy, asked Ella to take a walk with her, grabbed a cup of coffee and smokes, and went to meet Matt.

All crazy aside, this mother still knew her manners, so she sat down on a wooden swing in Matt’s garden, and said, “Hi Matt. I’m Charity. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Would you like to sit a spell with me, tell me how you are? I have a lot to learn from you. Brought coffee if you like it. Smokes too. I won’t tell your mom.”

Then I closed my eyes, breathed in the good, exhaled the bad, cleared my head, felt Ella brush my neck with her lips while Matt sat down, opened my eyes, and began to write what I learned from Matt that day.

I am so glad I met you that day Matt. I have missed you. The last time I heard your voice in my head was the day I left your amazing family behind. You said, “Thank you for helping my mother.”, as I drove away.

My dear Matt, I am about to do you one better.

I made a decision today. One I think all of you gathered on the other side listening have conspired to see come to be. I guess I owe you a thank you now, Matt. Because I met you in the garden that day, I have stopped being the crazy mom and turned into Charity again.

I was lost the day I met you in the garden Matt. My son wanted nothing to do with me. The feeling was mutual at the time. My daughter had been dead longer than she lived. My therapist wanted me to lock myself away, admit I could no longer survive the hell I live in without 24-hour a day supervision and total cessation of all the work I do. Instead, I was on my way to Georgia to confirm my mother had, indeed, conspired to have my father murdered.

Much like your mom and I could not know we each needed the other at the time, I could not know that meeting you would lead me to make the decision to suspend my one-woman, year long, human rights road trip and instead take up residence in the state of Mississippi to open the first ELLA’s Place.

You heard me right. I made up my mind today. ELLA is taking up shop in Mississippi. The point of all the work I’ve done the last five years is to one day open ELLA’s Place™, a community center which will offer support and education to those affected by violence and the criminal justice system, no matter which side of the crime scene tape our clients must cross to find us to begin to heal.

ELLA’s Place™ will be staffed by paid and volunteer social workers, lawyers, teachers, psychologists, and advocates who understand, and can deliver, the four things everyone affected by violence needs to stop, cope with, and overcome the violence of their life: Empathy. Love. Lessons. Action.

Matt, meeting you was just the first sign that I should bring The ELLA Foundation™, my passion, my skills, my commitment, and the first ELLA’s Place, to Mississippi in the name of love. Hundreds of other signs have guided my way back home to my Southern roots since that day in your garden. And you know how I like to follow my signs.

Don’t worry. I have a feeling I can’t shake loose. Mississippi is where ELLA and I are meant to be. Mississippi is where I see it all coming together, my promise to make my Ella’s death meaningful, all the work I’ve done, all the sacrifices we’ve all made. I am going to make Mississippi care Matt. You helped me see that. So now it’s your turn to watch me.

Just…..watch….me….. because, like you my friend, I got this.

Kiss my girl for me. I’ll kiss your mom for you soon.

I love you Matt Puckett. Here I come.

Yours in eternal solidarity,

Charity

 

In a final letter home to a friend, which arrived the day after he was murdered by Mississippi for a crime many credible parties believe, and evidence suggests, he did not commit, Matt wrote the following:

“Maybe an anti-death penalty group can be formed. A real one in Mississippi. If the death penalty can be eliminated in the South, the rest of the country will follow. I know you will fight for me. For all of us on death row.”

Help The ELLA Foundation™ prove Matt right. Prove the death penalty can be eliminated. Prove Mississippi cares.

It is NEVER too late. 

To learn more about ELLA’s Place, and how you can become involved in ELLA’s efforts to prevent violence and to advocate for human rights through education, criminal justice reform, and victim advocacy, contact Charity Lee, Executive Director, at [email protected]. 

To make a 100% tax deductible donation to help make ELLA’s Place a reality in Mississippi, visit Donate to ELLA. 

Much love you all. Until next time….