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"Listen to this!" Cass called from the living room and read aloud a classified from the local rag. "Ready to go beyond therapy? Or maybe traditional talk therapy isn't your thing. Story Mapping could be your ticket to releasing stuck energy."
Marly appeared in the kitchen doorway, a wooden spatula in hand, wearing a red and white checked apron. "I've never heard of it. Story Mapping? What's that?"
"We agreed to try new things," Cass reproved mildly, and Marly humphed before returning to making dinner.
After thirty years of marriage, Marly retired from the Fire Department and started training for competitive weightlifting. Cass cut back on giving massages two mornings a week and signed up for a community dance class. Their kids, a boy and a girl were on their own in faraway cities, and the empty silence had begun to fester. Cass broached the subject of couples therapy to help navigate the ups and downs of unlocking a more intimate connection.
'Therapy isn't my thing. You know that" Marly objected, but Cass flexed dance muscles and opened an air portal to New Dimensions with grand gestures. "Why don't you come to the gym? It's been ages since we worked out together," Marly said, recalling the Fitness Center where they originally met, a block from the Fire Station.
"Why don't you come to a dance class with me?" Cass pushed back, and Marly looked surprised. A visible wall went up, shutting out the idea with a head shake. However, Cass determined to give Story Mapping a chance. Marly enjoyed reading, and they both enjoyed reading the map on road trips — at least before GPS. It was only fifty dollars per one-hour session; what was there to lose?
Two weeks later, they pulled up outside a small cottage at the edge of a wooded lot on the outskirts of town. A waist-high silver-gray aged fence marked the property, and Cass led the way along a brick path to knuckle-rap the red front door. A few moments passed, and it opened inward, revealing an old man with a straw fedora, a white button-down shirt, and worn jeans. He introduced himself as Sam, the Story Mapping Guide, and beckoned them to enter. The main room had a desk, rolled exercise mats, a full mirror, miscellaneous dumbells, stretch bands, and rolling chairs with a…
