案例分析题
“Stop making excuses for him，Mom，”I said.“But maybe he is feeling unwell...”Mom said.“Maybe nothing，”I interrupted.I had been tending Mom since her health began to decline and this would be the first time in a year that my husband and I had a night out together.Jerry had promised to stay with Mom.But again he let us down.And more often than not，his drinking had a lot to do with it.His irresponsibility upset me.
I remembered our happy growingup years in a small town in West Virginia.With good family education，Jerry had been a kind kid.He was only 15when Dad died.Unlike him，I got over the sorrow soon，but he started drinking.Soon he began hanging out with bad guys.
Jerry and I didn’t see each other often，but we talked on the phone.Usually，though，we ended up fighting.When Mom came to live with us，Jerry dropped in regularly at first，but after a while his visits became sporadic.He explained he couldn’t handle seeing Mom in such a bad condition.Another excuse，I thought.
One day I went to see the doctor about my back.It had been aching for months.“I can’t find anything wrong with you physically，”the doctor said.“But I can tell you’re very tense.Is something bothering you？”I poured out my story about Jerry.“Do you think he’s likely to change？”he asked.I shrugged.“Probably not.”“But，you can，”he said gently.
Me？Why did I have to change？He was the one who constantly let us down.But what had I done？Maybe the doctor was right.I couldn’t love his behavior，but I could love him—the way I did when we were little.As I walked into the house I sensed a relief.
Jerry died young due to drinking .I miss him.But I’m grateful I was given the opportunity to show him I loved him—as he was，not as I wanted him to be.