On 9 November last year, Bobby Bostic walked out of a prison in MissouriA state in the Midwestern region of the United States.. There to meet him was a retired judge named Evelyn Baker. Now his friend, she had sent him to jail for life.

Bostic grew up in a deprivedNot having the things that are needed for a pleasant or successful life. family. He started drinking at 10 and taking drugs at 12. By his early teens he was stealing cars.

In December 1995 he and a friend had been drinking and smoking cannabis when they saw two cars and a truck pull up nearby. The two boys decided to rob the people in them.  

During the robbery two men were shot at and one was grazed by a bullet. The boys then robbed another woman and stole her car. They were arrested and charged with 17 offences.

Because Bostic showed no remorseFeeling sorry for doing bad things. , Evelyn Baker - Missouri's first black female judge - sentenced him to a total of 241 years.

Today she says that to sentence a teenager to life imprisonment is "ridiculous". Research has shown that because young people's brains are still developing, they do not always think through the results of their actions.

In prison Bostic became a different person. He read widely and gained a university degree.

In 2016, the US Supreme CourtThe highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. ruled that no young offender should face a life sentence without paroleThe release of a prisoner before the end of their sentence, on the promise of good behaviour. . But the Missouri courts argued that Bostic was not serving a life sentence, just a series of very long ones.

Finally, in 2021, the state's law was changed. Bostic was allowed to ask for parole, and was given it.

"Life out here is beautiful, every day," he says. "I go through the fridge and look at the variety of things to pick from. A soak in the bath tub - I haven't taken a bath in 27 years! I don't take nothing for granted, nothing."

Out of prison, he says, "It's just good things. People smiling. Little kids waving at you. It's like... this is how things are supposed to be."

Yes: We get used to our surroundings too easily and fail to notice all the wonderful things around us. We should remember how amazing it is to look at a flower, jump into water or travel in a car.

No: The things that matter in life - that stay with us and change our outlook - are the extraordinary ones. The rest just clutter up our minds, so we should try to ignore them as far as possible.

Or... What is ordinary to one person may be amazing to another. One advantage of spending time with people from other places and other cultures is discovering what we take for granted and they do not.