The Room My Father Built
He said I was not sleeping and not eating and that I had been strange since my father’s anniversary, and that he wondered whether it was time to talk to somebody.
He had a name.
He had a name ready, a psychiatrist in Beachwood, and he had already — he told me this in a warm voice, as a kindness — called to ask about availability.
I said I would think about it.
I told Ruiz the next morning and he wrote down the psychiatrist’s name and said, “Good.
That’s very good,” and I said, “It doesn’t feel good,” and he said, “No.
It’s still very good.”