Julie’s Sojourn In The Wilderness, Part III
Julie Does Wichita Falls
Before leaving Puerto Rico, Julie1 somehow wrangled a part-time teaching assignment at a state university in Wichita Falls, Texas, a site she chose because it was in the same area as the postmarks on Philip’s most recent letters. The letters themselves offered little beyond the recurrent themes of Philip’s life having been ruined and Julie’s responsibility for that.
Once ensconced in her own apartment, far removed from the perpetual noise and confusion that had been her Puerto Rican experience and equipped with a reliable phone operating on cheap local rates, Julie made short work of discovering that Philip was working for a utility company in a nearby town, the latest of a series of temporary jobs our former English Literature professor had held, and arranging a meeting with him.
After less than an hour with Philip, Julie concluded that if he had a specific reason or purpose in leaving, he was unable to convey it to her. It was also clear that neither wished to continue the marriage. Both amiably agreed to a no-fault, self-filed divorce, each keeping whatever goods and cash then in his or her possession.
[Narrator's Note: My apologies. I can't stop myself from crashing through the fourth wall to ask, Is there anyone except Julie who doesn't already know that the Philip is going to use the divorce to somehow rip her off? OK, I didn't think so. Read on.]
The same day Julie was to file the final divorce papers and make the cursory but obligatory court appearance, Philip threatened to contest the proceedings unless she loaned him $600.
[Narrator's Note: Again, my apologies. We are all sardonically chortling over the needless pretense that this money would ever be repaid, aren't we? Just checking. There's still more.]
Rather than forestall the divorce, Julie paid what we later labeled her $600 Exit Fee.
While Julie was physically in court, Philip stole her car, leaving her a scrawled note that explained that he needed it more than she did because the divorce had caused him to lose his job. Neither the car or Philip were seen again.
Life Goes On
Unable to support herself on her part-time teaching salary, Julie found a job as Assistant Director Of Marketing at a local bank, a position with the chief responsibilities, according to her, of assuring that the Bank’s clock on the side of the building was set to the correct time and scheduling local school choirs to sing Christmas carols in the lobby of the bank. Not only was her increased salary gratifying but her boss was delighted to have a quick learner on board and happily assigned her more interesting tasks as she learned the business.
Best Of EST
Julie also began dating and, during a momentous weekend she spent with a psychologist, mentioned that he reminded her of a guy (this would be me) she had known long ago in a land far away. Twenty minutes later, the psychologist informed her that her discontent stemmed from not letting go of the illusion that she could somehow recreate that relationship, that she had to “let it go,” and that the way to accomplish that letting go was attend a weekend EST workshop.
He was quite persuasive. Julie agreed that she had always idealized our relationship and that perhaps it had affected her in ways she hadn’t realized.
Ever diligent, Julie indeed signed up for the two-weekend EST course, and, more than three years after we had last been in contact, began searching for me.
At the EST weekend a month later, despite the Trainer’s specific admonition that the EST experience was noncompetitive so that, he joked, there was no “Best Of EST,” Julie was, naturally, acclaimed the Best Of EST.
The highlight of the weekend, punctuated by a (literal) standing ovation, was Julie’s moving and tearful surrendering of the pathological hope that she and the man she hadn’t seen in years would make a life together.
[Previous Installment Of Julie's Story: Julie’s Sojourn In The Wilderness, Part II ]
[Next Installment Of Julie's Story: Meanwhile, Back At The Medical School]
[First Installment Of Julie's Story: This Is How A Love Story Began]
Coming Attractions:
Meanwhile, Back At The Medical School
Footnotes
- Julie Showalter was the fiercely intelligent, sexy, and loving woman and prize-winning author, with whom I had a outrageously wonderful 20 year marriage that ended with her death in late 1999 from cancer diagnosed the week of our wedding nearly 20 years earlier. Many posts on this blog are about her, our unlikely romance, and our life together, and still others consist of her writings. Information can be found at Julie Showalter FAQ. ~back~
The seeds of a great fiction writer had been planted.
Comment by Mrs. Linklater — April 27, 2006 @ 9:54 am
Julie doesn’t strike me as the surrendering sort ;->.
Comment by MindSpin — April 27, 2006 @ 4:56 pm
[...] I never met Julie, except through her stories, which are artful and muscular and brave. I would read them for the first time a month or so after she died. Her voice lives in them still. I’ve heard parts of this love story before, from DrGuy, Julie’s husband, but I have not heard the whole. He’s telling it now, in blog-post installments. The telling is the gift love can yet give. [...]
Pingback by MindSpinner » Love Story — April 27, 2006 @ 6:27 pm
And I remember with great fondness the T-shirt that Julie wore often….
*She who must be obeyed*
Her departure caused me more pain and anguish that the passing of my own members.
Comment by Jenna — April 28, 2006 @ 9:45 am