Category Archives: family communication

Funerals are for the Living (from “Don’t Say Goodbye Without Leaving”)

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Kurt Lindemann

In the funeral home, the God-awful music is on a loop. The ornate, flowery chairs are arranged in circles around the room as people come in and greet us. Mostly my Mom. I’m sitting by myself, and all I can … Continue reading →

Posted in family communication, grief and mourning, Writing trauma | 5 Comments

Funeral

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Kurt Lindemann

My friend’s father shot himself almost a year to the day my own father rotted inside out, his cancer-flooded body a small island, submerged with decay, every day a new piece gone. His hardened face hollowed in like a stainless-steel … Continue reading →

Posted in family communication, grief and mourning, masculinity, memoir, Poetry | 2 Comments

My Ghost Brother: A Poem

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Kurt Lindemann

My ghost brother appears at night in the window across from my desk. He smiles, at what I’m not sure. I suspect it’s at my naivety, my belief that writing about will make him go away. He lives in my … Continue reading →

Posted in brothers, family communication, grief and mourning, memoir, poetic Inquiry, Writing trauma | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

A Brother’s Loss

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Kurt Lindemann

My latest piece in this project wasn’t published in an academic journal. It was published in Rebel Magazine, a men’s issue magazine with a circulation over half a million (a big shift in readership and demographics). The story starts on … Continue reading →

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Where You Been? From “Don’t Say Goodbye Without Leaving”

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Kurt Lindemann

I scan the party for my brother’s face, his familiar blond curls, crazy and wild, towering over everyone else. Nothing. The windows are fogging up, a common problem with house parties in the Michigan winter. I can see the hazy … Continue reading →

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Clicking into Oblivion

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Kurt Lindemann

Like most of my searches for long lost people nowadays, the search for my brother started online. I knew he was dead. I was just looking for evidence that he existed, something tangible besides the memories rattling around in tarnished … Continue reading →

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Message in a digital bottle

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Kurt Lindemann

The night my brother died, I received a text message on my cell phone. This was 2001, so the flip phone was primitive by today’s standards. Text messages were only used in emergencies, and they were so rare and exotic … Continue reading →

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