In marriage therapy, how would you help someone “click” with their spouse again after years of mostly marital apathy?
So I decided to study baseball. I learned various players names and batting averages, what a double play was, what an inherited runner and a grand slam were, and what a sacrifice bunt was, for starters, and why 1962 was such an important year.
I developed a curiosity about Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, and Lenny Green, and the great Camilo Pascual and Tony Oliva, and found them actually interesting, in those early days when I was starting college and enjoying my dad in new ways. Oh, and I just remembered Zoilo Versalles.
Look at that. The Twins became the Twins in 1961 and came into their own in 1962, and my dad died in 2002, and I still remember names like Zoilo and Harmon and Oliva and Killebrew.
You can learn to develop curiosity about practically anything if it’s important to someone you love, even after “years of mostly marital apathy.” If you can’t think of anything at all, it’s become a sad habit, and you’ll just have to develop curiosity about and interest in your spouse as a person.
- David McPhee, PhD