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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.