After The Ice

All people deal with death in different ways and some never finish grieving. “After The Ice” by Paul Crenshaw recounts the death of his eighteen-month-old nephew who was abused to death by the baby’s stepfather. Crenshaw was just seventeen when Keith died. Now grown and with a family of his own he reveals lasting emotions about his baby nephew. Paul Crenshaw has a master’s degree in writing and has numerous publications.

Crenshaw describes this horrible death in a very simplistic way. It is obvious that he is still mourning and these awful feelings are still with him. The matter of fact way he states the logistical details of the physical abuse make it seem as if he still has trouble talking about Keith’s death. Crenshaw continuously lives in the moment of the time when Keith passes, “In a few hours he would be pronounced dead, and not long after that one of the nurses on duty would call the police to report that this was not an accident” (Crenshaw 31). He recounts it so simply that the audience may miss the heavy baggage that comes with such a terrible death.  As he goes on the reader understands the grief that is still with him.

This essay shows how people mourn and deal with their emotions. For Crenshaw’s father it was about finding an outlet. He took up smoking late at night and would sit with his son for hours. Paul deals with his grief through memories, even memories that may not have existed, “Because I have so few memories of my nephew, I sometimes create false ones. I replace Keith with images stolen from my own life” (Crenshaw 35). Crenshaw has so few memories to fill his heartache he makes them up to feel better. He takes the real memories from the precious moments in his daughters’ lives to fill in what Keith’s life might have been like. 

Good Grief Charlie Brown 

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