-Efren Bullard, SP in Blythe, CA
It’s been a while since I last wrote. The reason is because I had not received a magazine in maybe five or six months. So, I figured I would just wait until I receive my next issue and then I would respond.
Well, on December 12th, 2023 I was sitting in my cell when the officer called my name for mail. I walked to the door and was handed a big envelope and I knew it was from The Beat Within.
I also received a small envelope with a letter. So, like most people, I opened the small envelope first and to my surprise, it was from a name that I had never seen before, “Omar Turcios.”
In short, it said, “The great David Inocencio passed away on July 8th, after a bout with cancer.”
Now, I’m not the type of person who likes to spend time dwelling on death because we are all “promised death by the most high, God!” What I want to share with you all is something David shared with me about his daughter Liberty, who he was very proud of. He used to write to me all the time because he knew and understood that time was passing us all by.
Here’s what he said about his daughter Liberty. It starts like this:
“Ok, please excuse me, as I must now cut this letter short, as I am helping my daughter get ready to leave for the East Coast for college. She is in her third year at NYU. The silver lining with the pandemic was that she was home with me in SF for the last year plus. It was so great to have her back to share time together, and build on our father/daughter relationship. I will miss her, but I am incredibly proud of Liberty and all the great work she has done to get to this point.”
This is to show you that you need to live life like it’s your last day on Earth. Enjoy the time you get to spend with your family and friends, because time is beautiful until it’s gone. He loved his child and he clearly shows us that with his own words.
He goes on to state in the same letter, “I am grateful for this life. It is not easy, but I feel blessed to have this connection and partnerships with you all, and your desire to write and share with The Beat Within. YOU are all appreciated.” Of course he loved Liberty the most, but he loved us all.
It’s said, “If you had one wish, what would it be?”
Some people will wish for wealth, cars, homes, a vacation trip, and a whole lot of things that really don’t matter. But wise people would wish for the best thing of them all: to wake up tomorrow. That’s time.
You should all use your time wisely because one day we won’t wake up to see tomorrow. Something he said that was also cool but to me it’s kind of funny because he would always say things about his wife, Lisa. He said he felt like he was being a big old baby, just so he could get her attention and have her all to himself.
It starts like this: “As for me… I am well, walking and stretching daily, and I too am doing my part to staying healthy and strong, physically and mentally, in-between writing and working on The Beat Within — which can be a seven day a week job, if I let it — but I do try and shut down to embrace my home and Lisa, my wife, who puts up with my BS. Sure, some days are better than others, but such is life.”
I would talk to David about my life and family because I understood the struggle of time. I have been gone since November 6th, 1993. That’s thirty years, one month and twenty-five days since the age of eighteen.
He loved his wife and daughter. He loved the rest of us as well because he was a giver of his time to so many that in the end he let us all know how he felt about his loved ones and his friends. He was one of the GREAT ones, as Omar put it, The BEST in this life and the BEST forever. He was cool because he loved the 49ers!
To the rest of you, continue to breathe and enjoy time because one day, it will be gone. Let’s go Niners! See you on the other side, David.