From Fed Med

     Walking Through Fed Med’s tunnels, hallways, and dorms, I’ve overheard snippets of questions ranging from "what’s for chow”, “why did he go to the SHU?” “Have you checked out the new female C.O. working the T…. damn?" “How many stamps do you want for them cinnamon rolls? “When are you getting out?" All of these, I imagine, are what you hear at most institutions. Other questions, though, are “have you read anything by him? Man, that guy can write!" and "do you know anyone who has book #6 of that series? I gotta know what happens!” These might seem like aberrations for the non-incarcerated, as out of place as palm trees in Minnesota.      For long time residents, these questions are pedestrian, part of the fabric of prison life. Upon arrival at USMCFP Springfield, or any Bureau of Prisons facility, your first piece of reading material is the “Inmate Admissions and Orientation Handbook”, given to you by a visibly burnt- out counselor who’s handed the same...

      “Where Do you want to go on your last days of freedom?” My friend Gabe texted. It was mid-May 2021. I would self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons in a few days. Nostalgia was in my mind's foreground. I proposed heading down to Hastings to visit my old stomping grounds on Hastings College campus. The chances were strong I wouldn't be visiting central Nebraska anytime soon, even after my incarceration. Gabe picked me up, and he, his boyfriend, and I drove highway 281 from Grand Island, past cornfields, over the Platte River, into Adams County, and down tree shaded side streets. We stopped by the cemetery north of campus. Gabe and I used to stroll the Grand Island cemetery, checking out headstones at dusk, so visiting another fit my memory lane mood. After we got to campus, I gave an anecdote-filled walking tour, sharing stories two decades prior of a more naïve, shy and idealistic Brian. The stroll done, Gabe asked, “Any other haunts you’d like to visit?” Ponde...