John and Elizabeth--the story of a marriage

Like many Americans I watched with great sadness Oprah’s interview with Elizabeth Edwards. Fighting for her life in her battle with cancer, she also struggles with her husband’s infidelity and all the questions that surround this whole painful issue. Trust, she kept saying, is the basis of any marriage. And trust had been shattered—and she wondered if they could mend all that was broken.

As I watched the program I remembered a monologue of Garrison Keillor’s several years ago. I tried to find it, never could—so I have pieced it together from my memory. He talked about Fred, a college professor in his middle years. His kids were about grown. He was pretty bored with his job. His marriage has settled down to a comfortable rut. But at work there was this colleague. Her name was Ann. She would drop by his office and ask questions and pick his brain on some subject. Sometimes they would have coffee between classes. She laughed at his jokes and made him feel alive.

There was a conference upstate and they both were going. They decided they might as well ride together. The meeting was weeks away but Fred began to fanaticize. What if…Maybe something might happen while they were away. Maybe they’d be on the same hotel floor. Maybe they’d eat a meal together some night. Maybe they’d order drinks and then maybe a second and a third. Of course, he muttered to himself nothing would happen. It was all very innocent. Surely two adults could share a meal and drinks—what would be wrong with that? But the fantasy tape kept running. What if something did happen while they were away?

He packed carefully for the trip. He chose his best blazer, his favorite shirt and pants. The morning he was to leave he left his suitcase at the door and had breakfast with his wife. He kissed her on her way out the door to work.

He sat on the porch waiting for Ann to pick him up. But he began to have this peculiar feeling. What if something did happen with this woman who was not his wife? Would gravity suddenly lose its hold and everything fly off in different directions?If he were to have an affair maybe an epidemic of swine flu might just break at out the school. A little boy taking a test might not know that the state of Massachusetts had moved to the Midwest where Nebraska used to be. The man at the meat market might just sell someone five-day old meat and fudge on the date. What the hell, he might say. Maybe if he got involved with this woman who was not his wife, he wondered if his son,Timmy might fall down on the running track and break his leg. Some politician in Washington might say what the hell and take that money under the table. Ann’s car drove up. Fred picked up his bag and headed for the car. Garrison Keillor left the story unfinished.

But he ended his monologue saying that actions really do have consequences. The ripples we make in the stream just go on and on. There are no isolated instances. I would add that whoever said whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas must have been nuts or had just a little too much too drink.