Published Articles
By Dr. William R. Morrow

“Therapist Tale”

Michigander colleague, Simon Lyman, who comes down every year to visit, told me a bizarre story which comes from the days of the construction of the Mackinac Bridge, back in the late fifties. Although the bridge is about forty years old now, it is still an engineering wonder, claiming the title of the longest suspension bridge in the world. It connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. Up there, they fondly call it "Mighty Mac".

It seems that two of the brave bridge construction workers were actually husband and wife, married to each other, but because they were in different labor unions, they worked separately from opposite ends of the project. Let's call them Al and Rosie. Al was assigned to the part of the bridge being built from the Upper Peninsula; Rosie reported for work on the Lower Peninsula. Some weeks they didn't see each other for several days, but they stayed in daily touch by phone. They felt a certain thrill, Simon said, to realize that, day-by-day they were working closer and closer to each other. However, it seems that one-day Al forgot it was his turn to call, and it triggered something wild in Rosie. She couldn't stand it anyway that there were women in Al's workforce, and she was so mad that she finally called him to say she never wanted to see him again, and then abruptly hung up. Poor Al didn't know what to do!

That's when he contacted a professional. The therapist told him that he had to let Rosie know he cared. So Al decided to do it in a big way. He hired a boat, and got his buddies to help him. Together, they made a great big banner with three-foot letters that said "ROSIE, I LOVE YOU" and set out for the construction site on the opposite side. They looked a little like Washington crossing the Delaware, with Al standing up in front of the boat, and his buddies hunched down on the deck. Except I don't think the Revolutionary soldiers were as psyched as the guys on Al's boat. Just as they approached the south shore, ready to unfurl their banner, the fog set in. There was no way that Rosie, up on the bridge girders, was going to see the message. Nobody would know they were even there. But, since Al and his crew thought they were so close, they had the bright idea to unite in chorus, "ROSIE, I LOVE YOU"" at the top of their lungs, hoping it would pierce the fog and the pounding and riveting of Rosie's work gang. Al and his buddies were not the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and it sounded a little weird. The first response that came back was a mixture of catcalls and falsetto voices, with gross themes. The reason was, in the fog, the boat had drifted back to the north shore where the bridge workers were having some fun.

On the second attempt, they were successful, "And sure enough", Simon said, "a little high-pitched voice came back, 'Al, is that you?' " It seemed like a silly question, because, of course, it was Al, plus his jolly crew. And it was Rosie, calling out, sounding like she was dropping big tears into Lake Michigan. She was pretty impressed, apparently, because by the day the last girder linking the two spans was set in place, Rosie was the first one across, with a big smile and crushing embrace for Al, who was eagerly waiting for her on his side of the bridge.

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