Chapter 4: Therapy

The first week in January, Roger found himself sitting on the couch in the office of Peter Franke, PhD. Dr. Franke asked, “So how can I help you, Mr. Price?”

The office was on the first floor of a three-story glass and concrete building in Wellington. When Roger had entered, he added his name to a sign-in sheet on a small table near the door. At five past three Dr. Franke came out to the waiting room. He escorted Roger down a narrow corridor past one door and then ushered him into a small office. Dr. Franke motioned Roger to the modern-looking grey couch set against the wall opposite the door. Roger sat on the couch, while Dr. Franke took a matching chair and picked up a yellow note pad from the coffee table in front of them.

Roger looked down to his lap and took a few breaths, as he gathered his thoughts. Then he looked up with a wan look on his face. “It all started about a year ago when my wife of ten years and our two children died in a car accident. At the time, we lived in Virginia. I moved down here to escape from the memories and start a new life.

“Since coming down here in March, I’ve been focused on my new job and building a house. A couple of months ago, I had a dream about my wife, Stacy. She told me I needed to move on from her. I’ve been out with a couple of women since then, but I still think about Stacy. I actually started crying on my last date when things started to get intimate. I guess I’m looking for some help on how to move on.” Roger paused for a minute, before asking in a quiet tone, “How long should I be grieving? How do I start dating again without feeling intense guilt?”

Dr. Franke looked at Roger and started, “You start by saying that you moved to Florida to escape from your memories of your wife. Why did you move to Florida?”

Roger looked down at his hands and thought for a minute. Then he lifted his head, looked at the doctor, took a breath and started, “I had too many memories of Stacy in Virginia. Every room in the house brought up memories ... bringing the kids home from the hospital ... hosting birthday parties ... having friends over for dinner. And it wasn’t only at home. Even at the office I had memories of talking to Stacy on the phone during the day; or the time Stacy brought me dinner when I was working late. Even just driving on the roads reminded me of them.”

“So, you moved to Florida to escape those memories? Have you actually talked to people about her since she died?” Dr. Franke offered.

Roger furrowed his brow and got a pained expression on his face. After a moment of thought, Roger responded, “No, I haven’t actually talked to anybody about Stacy since the funeral. Since Stacy and the children died, I haven’t had a reason to talk to her parents. And since I moved down here, I haven’t kept in touch with her friends or colleagues either. I’m a pretty introverted person, so most of our friends in Virginia were Stacy’s. Her roommate from college, people from work, other parents. I was friendly with some of the men, but I wouldn’t really call them friends. I have one former work colleague that I talked to a few months ago. But, neither one of us brought up Stacy or the kids.”

Dr. Franke nodded his head and then asked, “Have you made any friends since moving here?”

Roger chuckled and then, with a grin still on his face, answered, “Well, actually, the woman who decorated my new house seems to have decided that, come hell or high water, she’s my new best friend. She’s actually a wonderful woman. We talk every week or two since she decorated my house a couple of months ago. She’s also been to the house a couple of times since then.”

Dr. Franke furrowed his brow, then asked. “Is she someone you can talk to about Stacy?”

“I’m not sure. Should I talk to her about Stacy?” Roger responded, as his face twisted into a puzzled expression.

“Yes, you should have at least one or two people that you can confide in. It will provide an outlet for your emotions and help you process them.” Dr. Franke stated firmly as he looked over his reading glasses at Roger.

“Okay, I’ll try that.” Roger responded in a low steady voice.

The two men sat for a minute while Roger maintained a thoughtful look. Then Dr. Frank offered, “So, tell me more about your life since you moved to Florida.”

Roger thought for a minute, then offered, “Well, I’ve led a pretty quiet life. I work 50 or 60 hours each week, plus travel. I’ve been working with an architect to build a new house. I started exercising. And since Mandy, my new ‘best friend’ that I mentioned earlier, came into my life, I’ve been on one date each with two women.”

“All right, let’s talk about each of those things,” Dr. Franke started. “You say that you work over fifty hours each week. Does that leave you enough time for leisure activities?”

“Hmm,” Roger thought about the question for a second. “I’m not a bar person. And I don’t have any guy-friends to “play” with. But you bring up a good point. I guess that I should find a couple of hobbies.”

“Okay. I guess that answers that question. Let’s talk about the house you mentioned. What is your role in this house building activity?” Dr. Franke asked.

Roger chuckled, “I guess that wasn’t clear, was it? When moving down here, I bought some land and had a house built on it.”

Dr. Franke lifted his eyebrows a little, in surprise. But he maintained an even tone as he asked his next question, “So you moved to a new state and built a house. Why did you go through all the effort to build the new house?”

Roger started with a very even and relaxed tone, “I guess there are a couple of reasons. First, I’ve always wanted a unique house built just the way I wanted it. I also wanted to plan for the future. Even as I was mourning Stacy’s death, I knew I would want to have a family again. So, I built a house where I could raise that family.”