The Letter From Absalom Kumalo (October 16th, 1964)

Today, October 16th, 1946, I received a letter from Absalom from prison. His letter said "I am hoping you are all in health  even as I am in prison. They told me this morning that there will be no mercy for the thing that I have done. So I shall not see Ndotsheni again. This is a good place. I am locked in, and no one may come and talk to me. But I may smoke and read and write letters, and the white men do not speak badly to me. There is a priest from Pretoria, a black priest. He is preparing me, and speaks well to me. There is no more news here so I close my letter. I think of you all at Ndotsheni , and if I were there I should not leave again." When I read this letter I felt deeply saddened at my son's situation, and how he is still thinking of me even before he is going to die. One of the most important things that I have learned from his situation is that you have to cherish every moment you spend with someone because you never know if it will be your last.

This is the letter that I received from Absalom.