Susan`s turn

“This past year has been awful. E fight all the time about everything” – said Susan, twenty-three, a strikingly beautiful young woman, whose eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep. “I met Christopher when I was 18. My friend was dating his cousin and she introduced us. Christopher was 38, but the age difference has never been a problem for us. I think I fell in love with him on our first date. He had no family – both his parents died about ten years ago – and I became very important for him. We dated for a year and then got married. I did a bit of modeling for a while, but my heart wasn`t in it. I wanted to have a baby.

We had been married a year when I found out I was pregnant and was thrilled. At the same time I began having strange symptoms: all of a sudden gasping for breath, feeling my throat tightening. My husband took me to all the best doctors in New York, but they didn`t help. And I started to worry: would I be able to handle the baby?

Christopher is very busy, very important man. He came to this country with hardly a nickel to his name. And he has built this company all by himself. His workdays are long and exhausting”.

“So he hasn`t been much help with the baby. Oh, I know he adores Jason and loves to play with him, but he never likes to do things like feed or bathe him. If I`m tired he says “Go hire someone to help”. Well, I`m not comfortable doing that. Is it unreasonable to expect a father to want to spend more time with his son?

We probably argue the most about dinner. Christopher expects a gourmet meal on the table every night. When once I didn`t have time to cook dinner and ordered in a barbecued chicken, he got really livid. He went on and on about how I couldn`t possibly love him if I was serving him take-out chicken. I couldn`t believe it, but he was quite serious.

Nothing pleases him. Certainly not my friends or any of the activities I suggest. And he can be unbelievably rude to people.

And now there`s this problem with my mother. She was evicted from her apartment and has absolutely no place to go. We have millions of empty rooms, so I suggested we have Mother move in with us. Well, Christopher won`t hear of it.

So now, you know it all. I love him and I want us to be happy again. But it`s impossible to discuss anything with him. He can argue circles around me. I never know what to say”.

Christopher`s turn

“Okay, if we`re going to do this, let`s go through it point by point,” – snapped Christopher, forty-three, a tall man with dark hair graying at the temples. “Susan is just paying not enough attention to me or to the marriage. I work very hard all day. My business is extremely stressful. When I come home, I expect my wife to have taken the time to prepare a decent meal. I do not consider greasy barbecued chicken to be a decent meal. She has plenty of time all day to be with her friends and cater to the baby.

Susan has certain responsibilities that she is not fulfilling. My job is to support the family. Her job is to run the house if she`s so overworked she should hire someone to care for Jason, cook meals and clean the house. We have the money. I can`t understand why she doesn`t do it.

You know I came to this country with nothing, found a job in a factory at first. It was hard work, but it was a start. And you can see I`ve done quite well for myself.

I really had no intention of getting married. But when I met Susan I was smitten. She was so sweet and innocent and absolutely beautiful. I was very attracted to her. She seemed perfectly happy before.

I am rude to her friends. I prefer to come home at the end of the day and sit quietly and rest. I`ve never had a lot of friends and I don`t know why I should start now.

Now, let`s discuss her mother. I feel very sorry that she`s in distress. I`ve told I`ll do everything in my power to help her find another apartment. But moving in with us is out of the question. I`ve had a lot more experience than Susan has. I know people and I know if her mother comes to live with us, she will never leave. And we`ll have absolutely no privacy.

I don`t know what else to say…”