The day that the Director of Veterans’ Affairs arrived at the house was rather eventful. Jake was a nervous wreck the entire morning. “Jacob, honey, chill out”, Delilah said as she kissed his cheek.
“Lilah, my research and our future hangs on this meeting. Either he gets the message that I’m not playing around or he’s gonna lose this research to the private sector.”
“Are you nervous that he won’t let you do things your way or that he just won’t listen and not press?”
“Both, because the first is linked to the second.”
She took her face between her hands and forced him to look at her. “Jacob, close your eyes.” He looked a question at her. “Just do it”, she said, and he did. She left one hand resting against his cheek and the over moved to hold his hand. “Ok, now, I want you to visualize a peaceful meadow. Feel the cool grass beneath your feet, feel the warmth of the sun beating down on your skin. There can be anything in the meadow that you want. A nice comfy chair, whatever you want. When you have the meadow decorated the way you want it, give my hand a squeeze.” After a few moments, he did just that. “Now, I want you to go to the waters’ edge. When you’re there, squeeze my hand.” He did. “Look into the water. It’s clear, and blue all the way to the bottom. The water near the edge is shallow. There’s a clam in the bottom of the pool of water, just within reach. I want you to reach into the water and grab the clam. When you have it, squeeze my hand.”
Brie and David watched what was transpiring. They watched their son go from uptight and worried to passive under the touch of the woman he loved. He was actually relaxed. They sat at the table and watched what else she would do in silence.
He squeezed her hand again. “Ok, Jakey, now I want you to carefully pry the clam open. Inside you’ll find a pearl. The pearl is pretty and white with the swirling colors of pink and green and orange. I want you to look at the pearl. There’s going to be a safe message come to your through the pool of water or the pearl. Don’t worry about anything, I’m here with you. After you’ve gotten the message, I want you to squeeze my hand.” It took several moments and sheer panic overcoming him for a moment as his breathing quickened and he squeezed her hand. “Shh, Jacob, I’m here. You’re safe”, she reassured him. “I want you to go back into the heart of the meadow now, please, Jake. When you’re there, squeeze my hand.” Once he squeezed her hand, she continued. “Ok, honey, I want you to picture a big tree in the heart of the meadow. It can be whatever type of tree you want it to be. At the base of this tree, there’s a treasure chest. I want you to get into the chest and decorate the meadow however you want it. Whatever makes you feel safe again. When you’re done, give my hand a squeeze.” He took a few moments, and she watched as his eyes moved rapidly behind his closed lids. The longer she waited for the signal, the slower the eye movement got. Finally, he squeezed her hand. “Ok, I want you to focus on my voice, the feel of my hand in yours and the feel my hand against your cheek and come back to reality. Take your time. Don’t rush. Come back as slowly as you need to. When you’re back in the real world, open your eyes.” He took a few minutes to come back but he rubbed his cheek against her palm before opening his eyes. She smiled at him. “How do you feel?”
“Not nearly as nervous as I was. What did you just do?”
“It’s called a guided visualization. It was designed to kinda help you calm down.”
“Well, it was brilliant. Thank you.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss. “See, you keep me grounded. I’m sitting here having a panic attack and you, of course, have a way to calm me down. You’re a miracle worker.”
“Well, I don’t know about all that, but I didn’t want to see you continue to panic. You’re meeting is going to be fine. Just relax.”
The door bell rang and Jake jumped from his seat after checking his watch. “Right on time, surprisingly.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll see everyone in a few”, he said before leaning down to give Delilah a kiss, then headed for the door.
--------------
While Jake was in his meeting, Brie studied her future daughter in law. “You did amazingly with Jake. Have you ever considered doing something with therapy or counseling?” she asked
Delilah blushed. “I’ve thought about it.”
“You’d be really good at it.”
“Do you have any suggestions?”
“I had a mentor when I was massage school that did something called Body- Mind Therapy. Do you think that would be something you’d be interested in?”
“I’ll have to do some research on it before I say I would or wouldn’t. It sounds interesting.”
“What you just did with Jake is part of what a Body Mind Therapist does.”
“That’s pretty cool. I’ll look into it.”
“If it’s something you might be interested in, I’ll convince your father in law here to pay for it.”
David looked at his wife. “You’ll convince me?”
“Sure will”, she said with a smile.
“And just how will you do that?”
“Delilah, why don’t you go up to my office and do your research on Body- mind therapy?” Brie suggested. “I need to have a chit chat with my husband.”
Delilah just smiled and left the room.
--------------
“Well, Dr. Draiman, your proposition was magnificent. I’ll see what I can do about funding for your research. It seems to have a lot of promise and thought behind it”, Director Harrison told Jake.
“Thank you, Director. I take it this means that I have a job?”
“Sure do. We have a VA hospital in Denver that could use a man like you in our neurology department.”
Jake smiled at the Director. “Thank you, Director. When did you want me to start?”
“Can you start next week?”
“Hell, I could start tomorrow if you wanted me to.”
“If you could come up to the hospital for a tour to get familiarized with it and so that we can get you introduced to the staff in the next couple of days, that would be great.”
“Sounds like a plan, Director. I’ll try to be there tomorrow.”
“Alright. I’ll see you then. Until tomorrow, Dr. Draiman.”
Jake shut the door behind the doctor and walked toward the kitchen. He stopped when he heard strange noises coming from the room, so he headed up stairs to find his fiancée. He found her in his mother’s office on the computer. “What are you doing, beautiful?”
“I’m doing some research of my own. Your Mom mentioned something to me during your meeting that caught my interest. She said it’s called Body- Mind Therapy. I wanted to see what it was all about. She’s downstairs convincing your Dad to pay for the schooling should I decide to do it. I might just pursue this. That is, if you’re ok with it.”
“You’d support me if I decided to go back to school to be a surgeon, right?”
“Right.”
“And I’m going to support you if you want to do this Body- Mind thing. Pursue your passions, baby. I’m going to support you no matter what.”
“I love you, Jakey.”
“And I love you, Lilah.”
---------------
“You know”, David panted, “I keep expecting to wake up and find all of this to be a dream.”
“Wake up and smell the roses, David”, Brie said breathlessly. “I’m not going anywhere. Now, about Delilah…”
“If she wants to go to school for that body mind stuff, I’ve got the bill.”
She rolled onto her side and pressed her lips to his throat. “Good choice.”
No comments:
Post a Comment