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Lesson 140 Kramer vs. Kramer (Ⅱ)
(In the courtroom)
Bailiff: Ohyeah, ohyeah! Persons having business with the Supreme
Court State of New York, Special Term Part Ⅴ, draw nigh and you shall
be heard. This court is now in session. Judge Atkins presiding. All
rise.
Judge: Is the attorney for the petitioner ready?
Attorney 1: I am, Your Honor. As my first witness, I'd like to call
Joanna Kramer.
Bailiff: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth you've got?
Joanna: I do.
Attorney 1: Now then, Mrs Kramer, would you tell the court how long
you were married?
Joanna: Eight years.
Attorney 1: And would you describe those years as happy?
Joanna: The first two, yes. But after that, it became increasingly
difficult.
Attorney 1: Mrs Kramer, did you hold a job before you were married?
Joanna: Yes, I did. When I first got out of Smith, I worked in the
Art Department of Mademoiselle magazine for several years.
Attorney 1: Did you continue to work after you were married?
Joanna: No, I did not.
Attorney 1: Did you wish to?
Joanna: Yes. But every time I talked to Ted, to my ex-husband, about
it, he wouldn't listen. He refused to discuss it in any serious way. I
remember once he said that I probably couldn't get a job that would
pay enough to hire a baby-sitter for Billy.
Attorney 1: Tell me are you employed at the present time?
Joanna: Yes, I am a sportswear designer for Zelco here in New York.
Attorney 1: And what is your present salary?
Joanna: I make 31,000 dollars a year.
Attorney 1: Mrs Kramer, do you love your child?
Joanna: Yes, I do. Very much.
Attorney 1: And yet you chose to leave him.
Joanna: Yes. Oh, look. During the last five years of our marriage, I
was becoming more and more unhappy, more and more troubled. And I
really needed somebody to help me. But when I turned to Ted he just
wasn't there for me. So we became more and more isolated from one
another, more and more separate. He was very involved in his career.
And because of his attitude towards my fears and his inability to deal
with my feelings, I had come to have almost no self-esteem. I was
scared and I was very unhappy. And in my mind I had no other choice but
to leave. At the time I left, I felt that there was something terribly
wrong with me and that my son would be better off without me. And it
was only after I got to California that I realized, after getting into
therapy, that I wasn't such a terrible person. And just because I
needed some kind of creative role and emotional outlet other than my
child, that didn't make me unfit to be a mother.
Attorney 1: Your Honor, I would like to submit in evidence a report
by Mrs Kramer's, therapist Dr. Eleanor Freeman.
Attorney 2: Objection, you honor. The report is irrelevant and
immaterial and not binding on the respondent.
Judge: Overruled.
Attorney 1: Mrs Kramer, can you tell the court why you are asking
for custody?
Joanna: Because he's my child and because I love him. I know I left
my son. I know that that's a terrible thing to do. Believe me I have
to live with that every day of my life. But in order to leave him, I
had to believe that it was the only thing I could do, and that it was
the best thing for him. I was incapable of functioning in that home,
and I didn't know what the alternative was going to be. So I thought it
was not best that I take him with me. However I have since gotten some
help and I have worked very, very hard to become a whole human being.
And I don't think I should be punished for that. And I don't think my
little boy should be punished. Billy's only seven years old. He needs
me. I am not saying that he doesn't need his father. But I really
believe he needs me more. I was his Mommy for five and a half years and
Ted took over the role for 18 months. But I don't know how anybody can
possibly believe that I have less of a stake in mothering that little
boy than Mr Kramer does. I'm his mother. I'm his mother.
Attorney 1: Thank you, Mrs Kramer. I have no further questions. |