Aki Tymes, 33, was living in Dewey Beach in 2003 when he learned his cousin had "gone back into the system" for selling drugs. At first Tymes was angry. His relative was raised to know right from wrong, he said. But anger quickly gave way to compassion and the desire to reach out to his cousin. "But guys don't write letters," Tymes said.
A greeting card seemed like the perfect solution, but Tymes said the selection at the stores was either "mushy" or inappropriate.
"The only cards you have to choose from are sympathy cards. But usually the cover is roses and flowers -- things that you don't want to send to another guy. You want to say: 'What's up? How's it going,' " Tymes said.
That was when Tymes hit on the idea of creating his own line of greeting cards targeted to friends and family of prison inmates. Last week, Tymes through his company, Pointe Five Group LLC in Newark, introduced his first line of 20 cards oriented to inmates.
Barbara Miller, spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based Greeting Card Association, said she is not aware of any company that makes cards for inmates -- and this is in country that buys 7 billion cards every year for total sales of $7.5 billion.
Many of the Pointe Five cards are designed to be uplifting and inspirational. One card, for example, carries the image of a diploma on the cover. The greeting is: "It's never too late to finish what was started." Others are humorous, like the card featuring a muscular male at a job interview. The greeting is: When you go on your interviews and the boss happens to ask you about your workout, and what gym got you those results, just tell them 'The Boys Club.' "
Diane Barnes, who works as a volunteer at MeJah Books in the Tri-State Mall in Claymont, which carries the cards, said the response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive.