me vs. therapy

'so if i understand you correctly anytime a friend, a group of friends or a romantic interest leaves your home you start to feel sad and empty?'

'it sounds kind of pathetic when you say it out loud.'

'a lot of things sound kind of pathetic when you say them out loud.'

'yeah, like "sir, can you get my underwear down from the flagpole please?"'

'uh?'

'nevermind. yes so that's how i feel. to this day. at the age of 37.'

'do you have any idea why?'

'yes. i figured it out a few years ago. finally.'

'and?'

'it's because of my best friend peter.'

'peter was your playmate growing up right?'

'yeah, from when i was 4 until i was 12.'

'and what does he have to do with your feelings?'

'all those years his family would drive up to the vacation house next door to our house on friday and leave on sunday. every week...for 8 formative childhood years.'

'so you think his leaving every sunday triggered these feelings of loss to appear?'

'yep. i'm sure of it. and the shitty thing is i know why i feel sad but i can't make it go away.'

'well, just because we know something doesn't always mean we can fix it.'

'that's shit.'

'yes, life is shit sometimes.'

'i feel like a lunatic. isn't there like, some techinque you can have me practice?'

'hmm...how about distracting yourself with activities when someone leaves?'

'that would involve focusing.'

'right. not your best feature.'

'i think i'm just going to have to live with it. like herpes.'

'when did you get herpes?'

'i don't have herpes.'

'i thought you just said you had herpes?'

'no, i was just saying that the feeling is going to stick around forever, like herpes.'

'are you sure this isn't your way of casually letting me know you have herpes?'

'i don't have herpes!'

'ok, but the more you get defensive the easier it is to believe you're lying.'

Stare.

Therapist stares back.

Stare.

Therapist stares back.

Stare.

Therapist stares back, says: 'you see, you can focus when you want to.'

'wow. it's not as hard as i thought.'

'now, go practice it please so we can find you a girlfriend and you can talk about something other than relationships in my office every week.'

Stare.

'well done, angela.'