PS
By Jill McCorkle, first published in The Atlantic
In her final letter to her marriage counselor, a woman reveals the truth about her ongoing divorce and her distaste for her religious husband.
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In a letter to Dr. Love, Hannah announces that this will be the final time he hears from her. She explains that she will now tell him the truth, which is that she was actually bored during marriage counseling with her ex-husband Jerry. She says that she used to excuse herself to go to the bathroom out of boredom rather than necessity and read magazines instead. She cites petty arguments she used to have with Jerry but reveals the central issues of Jerry’s sudden religiousness and desire to “save” her, with which she vehemently disagreed. In the letter, Hannah asks if Dr. Love remembers when Jerry wanted to have her diagnosed as crazy and hoped she had brain cancer, and she expresses discontentment with the fact that Dr. Love allowed Jerry to express these thoughts without criticism. Hannah explains that Jerry’s sudden religiousness must have been a way to manipulate her and defends her morality, saying that she used to go to church as a child. She asks Dr. Love if he is thankful that his own marriage is not so flawed and reveals how she felt ostracized in their sessions, as if he and Jerry knew things that she didn’t. Finally, Hannah reveals that she and Jerry are now getting divorced after she claimed that she had an affair with the plumber. She tells Dr. Love how offended she was that even he believed her outrageous lie and says that she is too loyal of a person to have done such a thing, which Jerry must know. After closing out the letter, Hannah leaves a postscript note about an enclosed picture of herself with her children at Disney World.
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