Lie on the examination chair

Author: Irving Yalom (USA)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-10-01
Features: At midnight, less than four hours after Justin left home, Carol was at home cutting him out of her life. She started with Justin's shoelaces at the bottom of the closet. Four hours later, she came to the attic to cut off his high school tennis uniform's school name. Systematically, she tore his clothes, sheets, slippers, his beetle collection, his high school and college diplomas, his pornographic video collection, his counselor photos from summer camp, his high school tennis team photos, his graduation ball photos—all shredded into pieces. Then she opened their wedding album. Using the model airplane knife blade her son used for crafts, she quickly cut Justin completely out of the wedding. She also cut out all photos of Justin's relatives. If it weren't for their hollow promises of "how much money," she would never have married Justin. If these people want to see their grandchildren again, they'll have to wait until hell freezes over. And her brother Jeb. How is his photo still there? She ripped it to shreds. She didn't need him. And the photos of Justin's relatives, a bunch of idiots: fat, laughing, raising their glasses, dancing foolishly. Get all of this out! Justin and his family were soon in the furnace. Now her wedding and her marriage were all turned to ashes. Only a few photos remained in the album: herself, her mother, and a few friends, including her lawyer colleagues, Norma and Heather, whom she planned to call in the morning for help. She stared at her mother's photo, hoping for her help, but her mother had been dead for fifteen years. Before her death, she had suffered from breast cancer, and Carol had become her mother. Carol tore off the photos she wanted to keep and then threw the entire album into the furnace. A minute later, she thought that the plastic cover of the album might produce toxic gases that could harm her eight-year-old twins. She snatched the album out of the furnace and threw it into the trash bin. Later, she would pack it into a bundle and send it to Justin. Next, Justin's desk. She was lucky: it was the end of the month, and Justin, as an accountant at his father's chain shoe store, had taken all his work home. All the documents—accounts and pay stubs—were quickly cut with scissors. Carol knew that the important files were on his laptop. She wanted to smash it with a hammer, but then she thought, she could still use this five-thousand-dollar computer. Deleting the files was the right thing to do. She wanted to access his file archives, but Justin had set a password. A suspicious bastard! She would find someone to help later. She locked the computer in her wooden cabinet and reminded herself in her mind to change all the locks. When it was almost dawn, she checked on her twins for the third time. Their beds were filled with toys and dolls. Peaceful breathing. So innocent, so peaceful sleep. Oh, how she envied them. She slept intermittently for three hours before waking up to the pain in her lower jaw. She had been grinding her teeth in her sleep, and now it seemed she could still hear that awful sound. She looked at the empty side of the bed and said fiercely, "You bastard, you don't deserve my grinding my teeth!" Then she hugged her knees and sat