Truly, Madly, Deeply by Marian Tee

Author:Marian Tee [Tee, Marian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-23T18:30:00+00:00

Her

Diana had known, the moment she stepped inside the forum hall, showing up was a big mistake.

But her feet kept moving, and soon it was too late for her to back out, with the professor calling her name out in clipped tones.

She came up to the podium, and all eyes were on her. Aside from the professor, there was also the rest of his panel: a retired priest and a Carmelite nun to represent the Church, Mr. Bakker and the university's resident therapist, and a pair of social workers from the local help center.

Her palms were cold and clammy as she reached for her iPad and connected it to the projector via Bluetooth. Clearing her throat, she began her presentation, and when it was over and the lights went back on, she took one look at her audience and knew.

I was right.

This was a big mistake.

The questions came at her all at once, their myriad of expressions ranging from perplexity to outright dissatisfaction.

"So do I have this correctly," the retired priest said heavily. "Are you insinuating that Catholics who commit suicide are selfish?"

"No, Father, that's n-not the case at all." So aghast was Diana she found herself stammering. "All I'm saying that they need to be more selfless---"

"In other words, selfish," the therapist pointed out.

She quickly shook her head in protest. "No, I promise, that's truly not what I meant. All I'm saying is that those suffering from depression be made to see that if they die, they might as well have killed the people depending on them."

"What about the people who have no one in their lives?" one of the social workers quizzed. "Because not everyone's lucky to have people to love."

"Then it is the Church as a whole that should help them find someone or something to care for---"

A scoffing sound from the other social worker cut her off. "That's it? That's your answer? For high-suicide-risk individuals to look for leeches to hang on to them? That it's better to have people suck them dry as long as it keeps them alive?" The other woman's tone bordered on disgust, and even though Diana knew better than to take things personally, she couldn't help it, and her eyes started to sting.

Unfortunately, this only seemed to rile up the woman even more. "Oh, for God's sake!"

"Give the child a chance to form her thoughts and defend her beliefs, Luisa," the Carmelite nun murmured. Turning to Diana, the soft-spoken nun gave her an encouraging smile, saying, "Go on, Ms. Leventis."

"The reason why I want it to be the Church to help individuals struggling with depression find something or someone to care about is because it's the Church. It would make no sense for the Church to give us someone unworthy to care for."

"That's a very risky suggestion," Mr. Bakker said quietly, "and I say that both as a trained psychologist and a Catholic. The Pope may be made infallible by the grace of God, but other members of the church aren't so lucky.

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