“Aw yeah I’ve had that happen. I was with this girl that dreamt that I fucked David Schwimmer.”

Shane gave Alice a WTF look.

“Well ‘Friends’ was on a lot.”

‘Friends’ was a TV sitcom and David Schwimmer was one of the actors. Dana laughs at Alice’s clowning. Shane and Alice are happy that their tactics to cheer Dana up has worked. They are enjoying the banter just like old times.

“You know Al actually when we were going out I had a dream you were a midget … but I wasn’t mad at you or anything.” Shane cracks up at Dana’s irrelevant statement and Alice elbows her. She takes her eyes off the game and her opponent wins.

“Shit! Dammit!”

Shane throws the remote.

“Well he keeps shooting you in the back.”

“I hate being in the shithouse.”

***

Bette and Tina say their goodbye’s and kiss everyone. After extra hugs and kisses for Angie they leave for the airport to catch their flight to Vermont.

***

Bette’s Spiritual Adviser Julia had made some suggestions to the couple in the days prior to attending the retreat, one of which was to do some introspection; self-examination, contemplation, self-analysis, or reflection whatever you want to call it. After looking at themselves she asked that they look at their partner from their own point of view, and lastly that they look at their relationship from their own points of view.

Secondly she asked them to put themselves in their partner’s shoes and do the same thing as they tried to see things from their partner’s point of view. It was a way to find out how much they knew about themselves, how much they thought they knew about their partner and to identify if they were on the same page about the conceptions or misconceptions that they had about themselves, each other, and their relationship.

In addition she asked them to journal individually about anything and everything that was on their minds. There were no limits or boundaries they couldn’t cross in the privacy of their own minds. They had the option to write or to record the journal or a combination of both. There was no structure to it as long as they expressed themselves freely, honestly, and without holding back for fear of recrimination. It was a safe place to escape to and they only had to share whatever they felt comfortable sharing.