Summary

In Chapter 55, "It's My Party and You'll Cry If You Want To," Lori receives an email from Matt, Julie's husband. It's an invitation to her funeral/"cry-your-eyes-out goodbye party" (389). Lori attends the funeral even though generally in her profession, therapists are not supposed to cross over into the worlds of their patients. While Lori sees the importance of professional boundaries, it seems odd to her that in a profession "dedicated to the human condition" that therapists are expected to "compartmentalize their humanity" (389) when it comes to their patients' deaths. While everyone else gets to grieve for the patient, the therapist, because they must remain anonymous, is left to grieve alone.

At the funeral, Matt reads aloud from a love letter in the form of a dating profile that Julie wrote for Matt before she died. It is an achingly beautiful and funny letter--just...