If you are a friend, family member or penpal of Bobby Ray Hopkins with a
memory of him you would like to share here
email it to the CCADP at info@ccadp.org
One of
Bobby's dear friends, a penpal from France, remembers Bobby :
2/13/04
In memoriam of a beloved brother,
Dearest Bro,
Friday the 13th a lucky day? I don't think I'll believe that one ever again…
Within a few hours time yesterday, life changed forever and it will never
be the same. Those who knew you and loved you feel lost today, torn between
sorrow and anger and destroyed by the idea of having to go on without you.
The moments we shared, the numerous discussions we had, the laughs and the
songs we enjoyed cannot be taken away from us. You taught me much about this
life, about the human nature and you helped me to accept people as they are.
Your spiritual nature will remain a great source of inspiration to us all.
You knew your weaknesses and your faults but you never tried to hide them,
neither did you brag about your qualities. The brotherly love you offered
so generously was a true gift in this life, I only hope that our love filled
a part of your heart and eased your pain a little. You walked a lonely and
torturous path, with many of us frustrated for not being able to do more to
save you from this madness.
Now you've gone, we are left in this crazy world with a feeling of despair
and defeat. The bitterness may disappear with time, but I'll keep in my heart
the souvenirs of a loving brother, your smile, the sound of your laughter
and the hope that always lived in your heart. Now you have to walk a different
route, make sure you keep an eye on us and give us the strength to look up
at the sky and smile at you, the energy to continue this fight for your friends
on the row who will miss you greatly too.
The words are hard to find to talk about you or to tell how much of you
will stay with us forever. We used to find different ways to make up for
the geographical distance between us and now we have only our special and
treasured meeting point, our place of solitude as we used to call it, in
our secret Egyptian temple. You know you will find me there at all times
and I know for sure that you'll wait there for me too.
My dear brother, I don't want you to feel our pain today, but instead remember
our love and keep it safely in your heart. Somehow many things seem very futile
today, I look back on the past years and recall the moments when we held
each other's hand to make it through tough times. We didn't need words because
we had a friendship that was such a treasure that no words can aptly describe
it or replace it.
I will continue in this life with a little piece of you safely protected
in my heart. Do you recall what you wrote on the back of the last picture
you sent me ? "A prince soon to become a king" and it is how I will remember
you until we meet again, wherever and whenever that may be. In the meantime,
I'll do my best to fulfill the hopes and the dreams we had for this world
and for our children. Today I cannot come to terms with the reality of your
loss, I don't know if I ever will and I can only promise that I'll try because
you need to feel joy and peace at last. From the bottom of my heart, thank
you Bro for having shared so much goodness in spite of your fate. Love is
forever my friend and it will last eternally.
Your sister always,
Pinkie
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A penpal from the US remembers Bobby :
I was also a pen-pal of Bobby's and I wanted to speak
my peace. I'll never forget the August day I received the first letter from
him. I'd been having trouble with the American Quarter Horse Association
in Texas and when I saw the letter post marked Houston, Texas I thought it
had something to do with that. However, when I began reading that letter
I was so puzzled. This letter was dripping with praise of my horse and myself.
He spoke of how he'd been a rodeo cowboy at heart and at the very end, he
informed me that he was incarcerated and asked if that was a concern to me.
I have to admit that I was in total shock! I immediately got on the Internet
and search the Texas prison system looking for the person who wrote such
a wonderful letter. That's when I found him and found that he was on death
row! As I read his story I became more and more convinced this man was completely
innocent. My family was very supportive of my decision to write him back
and in my letter I let him know that I had looking him up on the Internet
and I'll never forget his shock that I had done so.
The next few months were filled with friendly letters
back and forth. I told him of my horses Dauber and Ruby and how Ruby was
a problem child and needed extra love and support. Then he told me of his
wife and how she would wake him up in the middle of the night when she was
pregnant to go get ice cream. I eventually found out that he got my address
out of an advertisement I had done with my horse Dauber in the American Quarter
Horse Journal. Of all the people in that issue getting ready to go to Ft.
Worth, Texas to the American Quarter Horse Youth World Championships, I am
honored that he picked me to send a letter to.
I have to say that I learned so much from Bobby. He never
asked more than friendship from me and that I gladly gave. In one of his
last letters to me he mentioned that I had not said much of his impending
execution. When I replied I admitted that I was trying not to think about
it, but that I prayed for him daily. Knowing him brought me closer to God.
I will admit that since my parents never made me go to church when I was
little I only went every now and then. I probably hadn't been in three years
or more, but last week I decided it was time to go. I went to church the
Sunday before Bobby's execution and I will continue to go when I can. I will
pray for him every day for the rest of my life and pray that we finally get
to meet, as I never actually got to meet him during his time here on earth.
To have known such a sweet and wonderful person has been
and honor and a privilege. I'm heart broken that the system failed him as
it did. My whole family and I sat nervously by on the computer Thursday night
corresponding with a reporter from Hobbs, New Mexico who was keeping us informed
of his situation. When she e-mailed that his execution had been delayed we
were all so hopeful and when she e-mailed that he had been executed we all
sat together and cried. It's such a waste of life! I can't understand why
the family's of the victims didn't want to know who the real killer was instead
of accusing the first available person. It's such a tragedy.
To my dear friend I want to say that I am going to miss
corresponding with you and getting your letters every few weeks. I'm going
to miss discussing life with you and politics, but I know will still talk
to you each night as I lay down to go to sleep because I know you are in
a better place now and that God has granted you justice. One day we will
finally meet my friend and I look forward to that day when I can see you
and all the rest of my friends and family who have gone before me in heaven.
God bless you and keep you.
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last updated February 14, 2004
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