Journal October 2026 Special DISPUK Release_Full Version - Flipbook - Page 36
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After they9ve left, and I9m about to write my letter following the third interview,
I9m struck in many ways by a sense of sadness that a young couple like them has
so much to live up to as first-time parents. I can9t help but imagine how it must
feel to stand alone, realizing that life can look different, that life can be guided by
norms other than what we see in perfect portraits online.
Rather than demanding that the sadness go away (cf. the stereotypical image that
the therapist must set aside their emotions), I felt compelled to write a letter that
might give Thomas and Mia a sense of being less alone. My grief compelled me to
write myself into the story. What I could recognize from my own life, and what
their story had inspired me to start changing in the contexts I find myself in. So
there were three of us who could cheer on the idea that life can look different
than elegant dinners over perfect coffee sets.
Dear Thomas and Mia,
I wonder where my letter will find you this time. Perhaps well on your
way or taking small steps toward a life with the comeback, the
paradigm shift, and the reorientation of values that were some of the
things we talked about during our last conversation?
Or perhaps well on your way or taking small steps toward realizing
the maternity leave that you, Mia, were deprived of due to the
difficult start with Charlie9s death during your original maternity
leave?
When I look back at our conversation with words like
