The Choice

The Choice

by

Burt Sage

I want you to give me a very short oral biographical sketch of who you are,” Edith said to William. “How do you describe yourself?”

Edith, a marriage counselor with three decades of experience, was meeting with William Randolph Pierce III and his wife, Susan, in her meeting room. Susan had requested the session, and William had reluctantly agreed.

“My name is William Randolph Pierce, III, and I am a tenured Professor of Physics at Dartmouth University,” William began. “I am one of the youngest tenured professors at Dartmouth. I have research grants on quantum entanglement, and am regarded as one of the foremost researchers in this field.”

“Very impressive,” Edith commented. “Please continue.”

“I’m 32 years old. I was born in Keene, New Hampshire, son of William Randolph Pierce, Jr. a prominent lawyer in Keene. I am a direct descendant of Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth President of the United States.”

“Again, very impressive,” Edith said. “Go on.”

“I attended Dartmouth University as an undergraduate, graduated cum Laude, was awarded a fellowship in the Dartmouth Physics Department to pursue a PhD and received that degree seven years ago.”

William paused. Not once had he looked towards Susan.

“Is that it?” Edith asked.

“I think so,” William replied.

Turning to Susan, Edith asked her the same question.

“My name is Susan Elizabeth Pierce, nee Susan Elizabeth Williams, daughter of Philip and Melissa Williams of Keene, New Hampshire,” Susan began. “My father, Philip, worked his whole life as a mechanic for the railroad, and my mother was a housewife. I am 30 years old, and graduated from Dartmouth with a bachelors degrees in Math and a master’s degree in Business Administration. I am currently unemployed. I am the wife of William Randolph Pierce III and we have two children, Jerry, aged 8, and Mindy, aged 6. We live here in Hanover.”

“Is that it?” Edith asked.

“I think so,” Susan replied. Not once had she looked towards William.

“Well,” Edith said. “That was very illuminating. Thank you both for your direct answers.”

Turning to William, she asked, “Do you see any difference between these two short bios?”

William sighed. “Yes,” he said. “I didn’t include the fact that I have a family: Susan, my wife, and our two children, Jerry and Mindy.” Again, he did not look towards Susan.

“Well, at least you recognized that,” Edith said. “But it says a great deal about where your family stands with you. Your family is less important than your education, your employment and your family history. That is not a good sign for your marriage.”

Continuing with William, Edith asked, “Has Susan told you that she and I have had two sessions together before this one?”

“No,” William replied, unemotionally. “She has not.”

“And do you know why she wanted you to be present at this meeting?” Edith asked.

“All she said was that it was important for our marriage,” William said. “I didn’t know our problems were that serious.”

“And what are your problems?” Edith asked.

“Probably the most important issue we disagree about is whether or not she should work. And, quite frankly, our love life has certainly gone down hill over the last couple of years. We haven’t had sex for at least six months.”

“Good for you, William,” Edith said. “Most men won’t touch that subject with a ten foot pole. That’s a plus for you. And you are right. Susan first contacted me to talk about your reluctance to agree to her working. Can you tell me why you don’t want her to work?”

“Sure,” William replied. “First of all, we don’t need the money. I make more than enough to keep us comfortable. Susan has done a great job managing the household finances. One of the reasons is that if she had a job, she might not do such a good job in that department.”

“The second reason is our children,” William said. “They need a mother in the home. Susan has done a great job in that department as well. I am very proud of the way our children are turning out.”

“What else?” Edith asked.

“Having her greet me when I come home from the lab is one of the best parts of my day. I probably don’t tell her often enough how important that is to me. I’m sorry about that. That part of my day has been missing for quite a while as well, and I miss it.” For the first time William looked towards Susan.

“Is that all?” Edith asked.

“I think so,” William replied.

“Well, I don’t think so,” Edith said emphatically. “I think there’s a lot more to it than that. I think the fact that you are a Pierce plays a very important role in your reluctance to support Susan’s desire to have a career. Your family “tradition”, if you will, is that a family comprises a primary breadwinner with a career and a housewife at home. You are proud of that tradition, as your short Bio revealed. If Susan were to go to work, it would be a break from that family history. I think you don’t want that. I think your ego is such that you would hate to admit that you have a working wife.”

William said nothing. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

Finally William said, “That’s very perceptive of you. I have to admit that if Susan were to go to work, I wouldn’t know what to say to my colleagues, or how to disclose that information to my parents.”

“None of your colleagues have working spouses?” Edith asked.

“None of the men do,” William replied. “Some of the women do, though.”

“Again, good for you,” Edith said. “I expected you to come out with a forceful denial of that as a reason. We’re on a good track here.”

Edith then turned to Susan. “Susan, would you like to tell William why you wanted him at this meeting?”

Susan hesitated.

“Susan,” Edith said sternly, “Now is the time to be open and honest. Your husband has been quite forthcoming, far more so that I expected. You need to reciprocate.”

It was very clear that Susan was wrestling with her own feelings.

“Susan?” Edith prompted her one more time.

“William,” Susan finally said, “I love you. I really do. But what I’m about to say has been building inside me for at least the last three years. I’m more than a housewife. I need the fulfillment of a career. I have asked and asked and asked over the last couple of years for you to agree to my having one. You have withheld your approval each time.

Two weeks ago the absolute perfect opportunity presented itself to me. And I want to take it. If you don’t support…..” she paused as tears gathered in her eyes.

Gaining her composure, she added, firmly, “If you don’t support me on this, I will leave you. You are right about my handling the family finances. I have put enough in separate accounts so that I can manage quite nicely alone with the children. I don’t want to do this, but I will if I have to. What I really want is your acceptance and support for my taking this step. It’s your choice.”

Again silence filled the room.

“William?” Edith asked. “What do you have to say to Susan?”

Once again William hesitated, gathering his own thoughts. “Wow,” he finally said, shaking his head. “I had no idea it was this serious. I thought it was just a whim, and you would get over it. Really, I had no idea.”

“I’m really jealous of you,” Susan went on. “You come home after a day in the lab bubbling with enthusiasm about something that happened at the lab. I remember one time we talked about one of your colleagues and what he said were the four most dangerous words in the English language. Those words were “I have an idea.” The idea in this case was a way to test for quantum entanglement over a much larger distance than had been reported before. You were so excited! I want to experience that kind of excitement.

The opportunity that is open to me offers that kind of excitement. It’s with a start up. I don’t want a job as just another business development suit in a large organization. That job pays well, but it’s a 9 to 5 kind of thing. This job, for the most part, I can do at home. I can still be the “at home” mother to our children that you want me to be.

If I join them, the company will have a total of five employees. There would be a CEO, a CTO, two engineers and me as CFO/office manager/administrative assistant. The pay is low, really low, but we don’t need more money. The rest of my compensation would be in company stock. Most likely it will only be good for starting a fire, but there is a solid chance that the company will go public or get bought out.

That’s what I want to do,” Susan said. “Please! Say you’ll support me.”

“Wow,” was all William could say again. And he was quiet.

“Say something, William,” Edith urged. “Do you have any idea the amount of courage Susan has just shown by telling you that. You can’t just leave it hanging.”

“It’s a lot to digest,” William said. “I am going to need some time to sort it all out.”

“Why?” Asked Edith. “Why are you so reluctant?”

“It’s just that a Pierce has never had a working wife,” William said. “I’m really struggling with that. You were right. I don’t want to be the one that breaks that pattern.”

“In a way, you already have,” Edith said.

“What?” William asked, startled. “What do you mean by that?”

“You’re a physicist, aren’t you?” Edith asked.

“Certainly, and proud of it,” William replied.

“How many physicists are there on the Pierce family tree?” Edith asked. “Not many, if any, I’ll bet. They’re all lawyers, right?”

William paused. “Yes, I believe they are.”

“And what did your parents say when you told them that you weren’t going to be a lawyer?” Edith asked. ‘I’ll bet they weren’t too happy about that.”

William paused, looked down, and shook his head several time. Then slowly a broad smile began to spread across his lips and he looked up.

“Touche,” he said directly to Edith. “You know, Edith, you are really good at your job. I’m glad Susan picked you. This has been one of the most eye-opening events of my life.”

Turning to Susan, he asked, “Just what kind of business is this new startup?”

“It’s a bakery,” Susan said. She reached into her purse and pulled out a small box. In it were a couple of cookies. “Try one,” she said. She gave one to both Edith and William.

Edith took one bite, and exclaimed, “Oh my God! This is delicious.”

William took one bite and said the same thing.

Smiling, Susan said, “That’s what everybody says. They’re going to brand them OMG’s. But the real secret is that these cookies were made over three weeks ago and have been in my purse ever since. The CTO has patented a process which greatly extends the shelf life of the taste.”

“And you would be in on the ground floor?” William asked.

“Yes,” Susan replied.

“I can see why you’re so excited,” William said. “This could be really important.”

William paused, then, looking Susan straight in the eyes, said, “Susan, I’m sorry that I haven’t listened more carefully when you were explaining this before. It’s just wonderful to see you so excited. I have really missed that side of you. I think you should tell this company that you accept their offer of employment. Working together, I’m sure we can resolve any issues that come up.”