By The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Finding it hard to express just the right sentiment to your loved one in prison? A Los Angeles company may have the answer. Attorney Terrye L. Cheathem noticed a market Hallmark wasn’t serving and founded Three Squares Greetings, which provides cards for inmates.
''With more than 2.5 million people incarcerated in the Unites States today, I saw that there was a tremendous need,’' she said.
Some express simple good wishes: ''We are all praying for you while you do your time.’'
But most show a tougher sort of love.
A Christmas greeting partly reads: ''You had the choice to be ‘naughty or nice.’ And you chose ... Oh well, now you have to do your time.’'
Cheathem said she came up with the cards when her brother-in-law served 11 months in prison. She said she went searching for the appropriate greeting card, but couldn’t find what she was looking for.
''There weren’t any cards on the shelf that said anything like, ‘Hey, you must make better choices,’'' she said.
Cheathem designs and writes the cards and sells them online and at a handful of stores across the nation.
''This is one product no one wants to receive and no one wants to buy, but if you need it, it’s there,’' she said.