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Authors: Peggy Holloway
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neighbor identified her. Don’t talk to her about it. We’re going to have to wait until she is ready to deal with this.”
“Well, you’re the psychologist.”
As I drove to my old office building, I kept glancing at Bettina. She had gone back into her shell. She had her head down and her baby fine blond hair covered her face.
She let me lead her into the play room and sat down on the floor. Dr. Anna always told me to trust my instincts. I got a sketch pad and some colored pencils and sat on the floor not too close to her and started sketching.
I sometimes wished I had Julia’s talent for art in a case like this, but art therapy isn’t about how well you can draw and paint.
I emptied my mind and let my subconscious take over. Before I realized what I was doing, I had drawn three little girls and put one in a bubble. I saw Bettina out of the corner of my eye straining her neck to see what I was drawing.
Without pausing or looking up I eased closed to her a little at a time and was soon sitting beside her and she was looking at my drawing. I held the pad tilted slightly toward her and before I knew it she had taken the red pencil and started scribbling across the page.
She made big angry strokes and tore the paper she was pressing down so hard. The pencil broke and I reached for another red one, handed it to her, and turned to a new page.
That’s al l she did for over an hour. She went through the entire pad. I would have stayed there letting her use up all the pads in the play room if Dr. Alvarez hadn’t lightly knocked on the door and peered in and tapped his watch. He needed the play room. I had gone over my allotted time.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed and he silently closed the door.
I gently took the pa d from Bettina. She looked at me and then looked around like she didn’t know where she was. As we walked out of the building, she actually looked over at me and smiled. She had made great progress in working through the anger about her mama’s death even though her conscious mind was still refusing to admit her mama was dead.
When I dropped Bettina off I reminded Mrs. Frazier not to try and get Bettina to talk. She agreed and I was glad Bettina had her for a foster mom.
I headed home looking forward to seeing Julia.
CHAPTER 16
When I went into the house, I didn’t see anyone at first but heard noises from the kitchen. They were making cookies and the two kids were using cookie cutters shaped like animals. Rosa, Julia, and Mimi were mixing the batter in different colors.
“Hey, Aunt Judith,” Brad said when he saw me. “We’re making animal cookies and Aunt Julia’s here.”
Julia looked up, spotted me and ran over. We hugged and I noticed she had lost weight. “What did you do, quit eating?”
“Well, you know, I’m in love. I keep forgetting to eat. By the way, my professor is coming over this week-end.”
“Julia, what is his name? You keep calling him your professor. Have you ever told me his name?”
She laughed, “I do that because I just can’t believe someone so smart could love me.”
“What are you talking about? You know you’re smart.”
Mimi spoke up, “You two quit arguing and go on upstairs and get caught up. We got things covered here.”
Arm in arm, we went to my room. This was the same room we had been given when we came here at age sixteen for the first time. It was a huge bedroom with a king-sized bed and a private bath.
The mansion was an unusual house in that each bedroom has its own bath, plus half baths scattered throughout. Arnold had put Julia’s luggage in here my room.
“Julia, you don’t have to sleep in here if you don’t want to. You can have your own room.”
“No, I want to sleep here just like we did when we were sixteen. It seems like just yesterday, doesn’t it?”
We sat on the bed and talked for about twenty minutes trying to catch each other up. I found out that her professor’s name was Dr. Walter Prescott. She
“Well, you’re the psychologist.”
As I drove to my old office building, I kept glancing at Bettina. She had gone back into her shell. She had her head down and her baby fine blond hair covered her face.
She let me lead her into the play room and sat down on the floor. Dr. Anna always told me to trust my instincts. I got a sketch pad and some colored pencils and sat on the floor not too close to her and started sketching.
I sometimes wished I had Julia’s talent for art in a case like this, but art therapy isn’t about how well you can draw and paint.
I emptied my mind and let my subconscious take over. Before I realized what I was doing, I had drawn three little girls and put one in a bubble. I saw Bettina out of the corner of my eye straining her neck to see what I was drawing.
Without pausing or looking up I eased closed to her a little at a time and was soon sitting beside her and she was looking at my drawing. I held the pad tilted slightly toward her and before I knew it she had taken the red pencil and started scribbling across the page.
She made big angry strokes and tore the paper she was pressing down so hard. The pencil broke and I reached for another red one, handed it to her, and turned to a new page.
That’s al l she did for over an hour. She went through the entire pad. I would have stayed there letting her use up all the pads in the play room if Dr. Alvarez hadn’t lightly knocked on the door and peered in and tapped his watch. He needed the play room. I had gone over my allotted time.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed and he silently closed the door.
I gently took the pa d from Bettina. She looked at me and then looked around like she didn’t know where she was. As we walked out of the building, she actually looked over at me and smiled. She had made great progress in working through the anger about her mama’s death even though her conscious mind was still refusing to admit her mama was dead.
When I dropped Bettina off I reminded Mrs. Frazier not to try and get Bettina to talk. She agreed and I was glad Bettina had her for a foster mom.
I headed home looking forward to seeing Julia.
CHAPTER 16
When I went into the house, I didn’t see anyone at first but heard noises from the kitchen. They were making cookies and the two kids were using cookie cutters shaped like animals. Rosa, Julia, and Mimi were mixing the batter in different colors.
“Hey, Aunt Judith,” Brad said when he saw me. “We’re making animal cookies and Aunt Julia’s here.”
Julia looked up, spotted me and ran over. We hugged and I noticed she had lost weight. “What did you do, quit eating?”
“Well, you know, I’m in love. I keep forgetting to eat. By the way, my professor is coming over this week-end.”
“Julia, what is his name? You keep calling him your professor. Have you ever told me his name?”
She laughed, “I do that because I just can’t believe someone so smart could love me.”
“What are you talking about? You know you’re smart.”
Mimi spoke up, “You two quit arguing and go on upstairs and get caught up. We got things covered here.”
Arm in arm, we went to my room. This was the same room we had been given when we came here at age sixteen for the first time. It was a huge bedroom with a king-sized bed and a private bath.
The mansion was an unusual house in that each bedroom has its own bath, plus half baths scattered throughout. Arnold had put Julia’s luggage in here my room.
“Julia, you don’t have to sleep in here if you don’t want to. You can have your own room.”
“No, I want to sleep here just like we did when we were sixteen. It seems like just yesterday, doesn’t it?”
We sat on the bed and talked for about twenty minutes trying to catch each other up. I found out that her professor’s name was Dr. Walter Prescott. She
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