Kirsten walked into the group meeting that day with less hesitation than she had the previous five days. Although it still felt weird to talk to a group of strangers about her problems, at the same time, it felt good to release what had been bothering her. She walked into the room, and sat down in one of the chairs which had been placed a circle, to make it easier to talk.
"Hello, Kirsten," the group mediator said. Kirsten smiled back at the mediator. "So the general topic for today's discussion will be about families. Your families."
Everyone mumbled about it for a minute. Most people did not like to talk about their families, for usually, that was the real essence of where their problems began. The mediator went around in a circle. She started with the person to her left and went around the circle. Each person could take as long as they needed to talk about their family, as long as they were honest about it. Kirsten was in the middle of the circle. She was facing the mediator. The group had been in session nearly an hour before they got to Kirsten. Kirsten looked around the room nervously before she spoke. She did not like sharing the intimate details of her life with strangers; however, it was part of the process.
"My family is from Newport Beach, California. My father was, until this past fall the CEO of the Newport Group. I am the Chief Financial Officer of the Newport Group, which deals in Real Estate," Kirsten explained.
"What was it like for you growing up?" The mediator asked.
"Um... it was good. We had everything we wanted. My dad and my mom gave us everything," Kirsten replied.
"You said 'us'. How many siblings did you have?" the mediator questioned.
"When I was growing up, there were four of us. My dad, my mom, and my sister Hailey. She's a lot younger than me. She was born when I was... ten. She was always 'Daddy's little girl'. Probably because she looked so much like my mother," Kirsten said.
"How did that make you feel," the mediator probed.
"Jealous, I'll admit," Kirsten answered. "It seemed like she could do everything right - no matter what, and I felt like I always had to prove myself to my dad."
"What about your mom?" the mediator asked.
"She was... she was an alcoholic," Kirsten admitted. "I guess with Dad working all the time, she turned to alcohol."
"I see," the mediator said. "What was life like for you as a teenager growing up in Newport?"
"It was all right. We had a lot of fun - probably too much fun," Kirsten told the group.
"Did you have a boyfriend?" the mediator asked.
"Yes, uh... Jimmy Cooper. He turned out to be my next door neighbor when we were adults," Kirsten replied.
"How long did you date?" the mediator asked.
"All through high school, and into college. We had broken up by the time I graduated with my bachelor's degree in art history," Kirsten said.
"Why did you two break-up?" the mediator questioned.
"A variety of reasons, I suppose. We just began to go out separate ways, I guess," Kirsten said. She did not want to tell the group that their break-up was sparked by her abortion. No one knew about it. Jimmy did not even know. It had been over twenty years, and she had not told anyone because she knew what could happen.
"So after college, what happened?" the mediator asked.
"I met someone named Sandy Cohen. He was from New York City, and he was different from anyone that I'd ever met here," Kirsten said.
"Did you like that about him?" the mediator asked.
"Yeah, I guess I did," Kirsten replied. She smiled and laughed. "We lived out of the back of a mail truck for a while. About a year after we met, we got married in January of 1985. We moved to a house in Berkeley, and we had Seth, our son, two years later."
"What does your husband do for a profession?" the mediator asked.
"He is a lawyer," Kirsten answered.
"What made you come back to Newport?" the mediator asked.
"My mother got sick. She got ovarian cancer, so we came back to Newport to be with her," Kirsten said. "We got a house in one of my father's developments, which happened to be right next to the Coopers, and I got a job at the Newport Group. And Newport is where I have been ever since."
"Now what has happened recently with your family? When I spoke with your husband he mentioned that you both have guardianship over a teenage boy, and you have had some family problems in the past year," the mediator said.
"Uh... yes. About two years ago, Sandy brought a client home. He used to work in the police department's office, as like an assistant district attorney. Basically a court-appointed attorney. Anyway, he brought a boy home, Ryan, who had ended up in juvenile detention because of a car his older brother had stolen. When Sandy tried to bring the boy home, his family had abandoned him, so we took him in, and sought guardianship," Kirsten explained.
"What about the problems with your father, that your husband spoke of?" the mediator asked.
"Ah, yes. This past fall my father was having some legal issues with one of the people on the city counsel," Kirsten said. She paused for a moment before going on. "It turned out that my father had an affair, and out of that affair these two people had created a child, Lindsey. She was about the same age as Seth and Ryan."
"How did this make you feel, Kirsten?" the mediator asked.
"It made me feel mad and ashamed at my father, and sad for the girl. She grew up not knowing where she came from - or anything like that," Kirsten said.
"Did you accept her into your family?" the mediator questioned.
"Yes, we did. She got to know me, my dad, Sandy, and the kids," Kirsten replied. She was getting a little sick of talking.
"Well, that's good. That's good. Anyway, let's move on to our next person, Robert," the mediator said.
Kirsten was glad that her turn was over. She did not like sharing the intimate details of her life with a group of people; however, she understood that this was an exercise not to be evaluated, but to gain trust within the group - to show that although everyone came from a different background - they were no different from each other.
Two hours later, the meeting ended, and Kirsten went back to her room. Everyone had their own room at the facility, which made everything nice and private for the guests. Kirsten was a little worried that she had not heard from Sandy, so she decided to call him from her room. She dialed the number, and waited for an answer.
"Hello," Sandy said.
"Sandy, it's me," Kirsten replied.
"Kirsten!" Sandy exclaimed. "How are you?"
"How are you? I've tried to call several times, but there has been no one there, and no one has returned my messages. Is everything okay?" Kirsten asked.
"You'd better be sitting for this," Sandy replied. He knew that he could not keep this from his wife - it was too big. "When I brought you to Suriak, Trey died. Marissa - Marissa shot him."
"What?" Kirsten asked. She was not she had heard Sandy right. Why would Marissa shoot Trey?
"When I took the boys to Miami, Trey attacked Marissa. Well, Ryan found out, and you know how Ryan is - he flew off the handle. He went over to Trey's to 'end things' with him. I guess Seth told Marissa what was happening, and she went to Trey's to stop what she knew was going to happen. She came in to find Trey punching Ryan, so she picked up a gun, and shot him. Oh, it's a long story, Honey. One we will deal more with when you come back," Sandy told Kirsten.
"How is everyone dealing with it?" Kirsten asked.
"Well, I'm fine. Seth's fine - so is Summer, for that matter. They are a little shocked, but fine overall. Ryan... he'll get through it. He's a strong kid. Besides, I suspect he initiated the fight, in the first place. Marissa... she'll have a hard time with it for awhile," Sandy replied.
"So it's been crazy, huh?" Kirsten said. She heard a knocking on the door - telling her it was lunch time. "I've gotta go, Sandy, it's lunchtime. I'll talk to you later, okay. Love you."
"Love you too, bye," Sandy said.