Case Study: Christa R.

Christa R. has it all – a picture-perfect, fairytale life: The head cheerleader and class salutatorian in high school, valedictorian in community college, married to a multi-millionaire who is about to inherit the family’s company, and currently works as a hematology oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center, while pursuing her fourth (or maybe it was fifth – I lost count) Bachelor’s degree with a 4.0 GPA. She has been an honorable speaker at many prestigious medical conferences, and has had the opportunity to travel to Austria, Cuba, China, etc. for her studies and for her career. With all of this in mind, one would be compelled to believe that Christa is determined, hard-working, and a good role model. She does, however, have one major flaw. Christa

December was approaching, and the family was invited to spend the weekend at Gee’s beach house for an early Christmas party. We settled in (my boyfriend had tagged along as my plus-one), and as evening approached, Christa invited my boyfriend for a jog along the beach, knowing that they both shared a love for exercise. The jog along the shore lasted about an hour, and when they both arrived back, my boyfriend wanted to keep his distance from Christa, stating that she made him feel uncomfortable (he later revealed that she made an unsolicited advance on him, and he preferred not to be around her to avoid the situation happening again). This was never spoken about again. That night, after many glasses of wine, marked the beginning of the Sokol phase. “I’ve never felt like this about anyone!” Christa repeated. “I’m so in love with Dr. Sokol! I want him to love me too!” The Sokol phase lasted from December to the end of February. Somehow, after finally managing to kiss the doctor, she realized it didn’t feel right and ended it all, wanting to settle back with her

She had a change of heart, wanting to strengthen the ties with her husband and practice parenthood before making the decision to bear her own children. I would often have friends come and visit, and Christa would speak about how it felt like having a big, happy family. . . Until March came along, which marked the beginning of the Brett phase. Brett was my best friend, and seemed to be visiting more often than I remember inviting him. The end of April was when all of the meetings between Christa and Brett were unfolded and laid out before everyone. It was the first time Gee truly discovered the unfaithfulness of his wife, and it marked the end of my friendship with Brett. This severed family ties, as she chose to move out with Brett, rather than facing the consequences and explaining herself to the rest of the family. She disappeared without a single goodbye, and I haven’t heard from her