I was asked by my best's friend and love of my life to write a little about myself. Before I introduce myself it's only proper to introduce her... Ladies and Gentlemen I introduce you to my world and true LOVE my wife Lisa, creator of this website. Thank you my love. The very first thing my wife asked me, was to not bull crap around with lies and to always be honest. Can't beat such honesty as that eh!
My name is Arnold Prieto Jr. which means "Dark Eagle" in Spanish and German. My wife is the ONLY person, aside from her sister Twinkie, to call me Arnie. I was born on June 9th 1973 -yup Gemini. Although, I prefer the Chinese Zodiac which says I was born on the month and year of the Water Ox. As you can see I'll be turning 34 years old this year. I honestly never thought I'd live to be 30, let alone 34. This year as every Blessed year is a great one because my son will be turning 14 years old in October. Poor boy, he looks nothing like me and YES he is my beloved son. Well continuing on, what can I say about myself aside from saying that I lived one of the most boring lives of man kind! I wasn't around in the free world toting a hand gun much less assault rifles or even gang banging. Although, I did go through that stage of "hanging out" with a little street gang not known outside its little barrio. To be honest, it was more of a waste of time than anything else. I mean standing around occasionally huffing spray paint or octane booster, which gave me a RAD headache. But to be cool I enjoyed the headache. I'm a self taught artist who draws what he sees. Since I picked up drawing so late in life, I didn't get a chance to "feed" my mind of images...(my excuse and sticking to it). Now that I find myself like the rest of the 450 men on Death Row, in a 9x12 cell (i think), of walls and a crack called a window, I have no choice but to draw what I see in magazines, cards, etc...I don't regret starting so late in life. Which was done out of necessity due to being stuck in a cell 23 hours a day (just recently 22 hours). Being here you need to learn to re-invent yourself in order to survive the psychological battle each one of us in here battles within ourselves. That and because I didn't want my brain to shrivel up into a raisin! Imagine That!! I've been on Texas Death Row since 1995 and have been incarcerated since March of 1994. At the age of 20, I was arrested a couple weeks before my 1st wedding anniversary and 4 months into my son's life. Look Ladies and Gentlemen, I refuse to do this project to seek pity or complain. Well I'll complain every now and then but then again I'm only human. I don't know why or how far this project will go yet, but we will just have to wait and see. What I do know is this, as a wise man whom I never had the pleasure in meeting while here on death row, always said "There are 2 days one should never worry about: Yesterday is in the past and Tomorrow may never come. Live for today as if it were your last". And that's what I am doing as I pen down these words. Thank You Mr. Luis Ramirez (executed Oct. 20, 2005). May you rest in peace Brother! Throughout the years here on Texas Death Row I have met and come across some really good folks. Throughout the same time I've seen, known countless men who have been executed. In which time I have also learned to Hate, know about Hate and learned how to let go of such a negative and time consuming entity. Entity because Hate festers, lives and thrives in itself. I've come to be infatuated, "not fallen in love" with a couple of women, of which one I ended up marrying while in prison. A mistake and by that I mean, to become so infatuated by something I can not have. So I learned to harden my appearance, show no emotions, heartless and found the need to become cold and hard to trust anyone. But life had other plans for me. Life being a learning and evolving experience. A short bald man by the name of Ray showed me that there is such a thing called a friend. He showed me through his friendship about Honor. Sister Glo (Hey Gloria) showed me the same through her friendship that again, there is such a thing as a friend. Then coming along on the path of fate, my loving wife Lisa. Who easily toppled the well-rooted statue I thought I'd become, shattering such a façade! She showed me unknowingly that there is something on the other side of infatuation, Love. Not only, has she shown me about friendship and unwittingly about love. She as Mr. Ray and Sis Glo have, that there are people out there in the free world who actually care about a Mexican. Care about all of us in here and not the animals we're portrayed to be by the state and a percentage of the American population. Hell, there are some people here that wouldn't be on death row or in prison if they had had adequate representation or the means to hire a good attorney. Yet they are in prison or on death row, as I am today. Animals, societies waste, inhumane a few things we are thought of being by some people. Because we're poor, ill educated and abandoned by a society that cares more about personal monetary gain, success, power than injustice and human life. I have come to know by personal experience that anyone could be here, even you. We are in a society that discriminates not only due to race or gender, but through wealth. There are no wealthy people on death row, especially not in Good Ol State of Texas!
Well friends these are the thoughts these days bring and as a wise Big Girl once told me "Never say Good Bye, but Talk To You Later"
...Respectfully Arnie.