Part 3 of 8 part serial. New installment posted each Monday morning. Previous posts can be accessed by clicking the Truth & Consequences category on the right.
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While she was gone, I grabbed a notebook and made some hasty notes. I never take notes while I’m listening to someone tell me their concerns, but I find that writing my initial perceptions helps me organize my thoughts.
She returned, smoothed her slacks as she resumed her seat. “Let’s see,” she said, “where were we?”
I was still slightly off balance. “I think that you had just left your children at the community pool.”
A look of pain crossed her face. “Yes, well that was the beginning of the longest afternoon of my life. After we dropped the children off at the pool, my husband said, ‘I guess we need to go somewhere so we can talk.’
“His face was like a stone sculpture, and he would not look at me. In all our years of marriage, I had never seen him withdraw like this.
“I decided there was no value in pretending I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I said, ‘Harold, I don’t know what happened at church, but I’m guessing that you have been trying to hide something from me and something in the sermon hit a release valve.’
“’I guess that is pretty close to it,’ Harold said. ‘It’s just as well. It’s been driving me crazy for a couple of months.’
“My body was so tight I thought it would crack if I moved a muscle. What happened that made my warm husband freeze up like that? The last couple of months flashed through my mind.”
She looked embarrassed, but plunged ahead. “I realized that we hadn’t had sex for a very long time. That had to be it, I thought, Harold has fallen in love with another woman. I realized that I was holding my breath and felt faint. I gulped for air and finally said, ‘Whatever it is, we have to talk about it.’
“‘Yeah, I know,’ he said. ‘Let’s go home and talk there.’
“We drove in silence, entered our house and moved towards the family room. The irony hit me that we were going to a room that we called the family room to talk about an event that might destroy our family.”
She looked at me with an accusing eye. “I’m not sure that the truth will sets you free,” she said.
“It can cause great pain,” I agreed.
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Are there times you don’t believe that truth will set you free? Are there times that truth is so painful that you’d rather not hear it? Next installment on April 29. Glad to hear any responses that you have.
