September, a few weeks into the university’s new semester. We each have classes to teach, but only one car, so I am dropping him off at work. The short ride has been silent, but as we pull up in front of his building, he says grudgingly, “Okay, I’ll go to couples therapy.” I gaze past him, at the students walking by, wrapped in their own lives. Then I turn to look at him directly. My former indecision jells into certainty. “No,” I say, stepping into myself. He looks at me, nods once, gets out of the car. I drive on.
Rona Klein, a third-generation teacher, taught in the English Department of Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Retired, she lives in New England.