Wed, Feb 18, 2009
Erica is facing a lot of stress in her life. Sam is no longer talking to her and never wants to see her again. Marcus Stahl wants to renege on the book deal of writing his memoirs since he can't visit that dark place in his past. Because she feels her sessions with Dr. Tom have so far made her life worse than better, she wants to quit. However, Dr. Tom offers her a gift because of her stress: he will send her back to any day she wants where she was the cause of the day being perfect. She chooses a time as a teenager, taking a day trip to Toronto Island with Leo and Sam, to get away from their arguing parents who looked to be on the verge of divorce. One importance of this day is that, as Erica states, it is the last big 'hurrah' between the three of them before Leo died. She vows not to change a thing about that day. However, her thirty-two year old sensibilities may factor into what she now decides to do. And any small change to the day may alter how perfect it was in her memory.
Wed, Feb 25, 2009
It's Yom Kippur, and there is much pressure within the Strange family for everyone to reconcile, especially Erica and Sam, but also Gary and Barb, the latter who has has always resented her husband's decision to be a rabbi, and Erica and Barb. Dr. Tom sends Erica back to Yom Kippur 1997 - the year following Leo's death - when Gary and Barb were having a fight over his spending so much time at the synagogue, with Erica siding with her father. In addition to Barb wanting a divorce following that incident, Erica and Barb's relationship has since been an antagonistic one. Erica vows this time to stay neutral in her parents' argument. Although she starts off being neutral, Erica learns more behind her parents' marital woes, which may change her attitude towards both. Dr. Tom tries to provide further insight by sending Erica even further back to 1974, to a hippie commune retreat that Gary and Barb went to shortly after they got married.
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Wed, Apr 1, 2009
Erica's life is finally going great, both personally and professionally. But the fact that December 13th is approaching is weighing heavily on her mind, that date being the anniversary of Leo's death, which is still her biggest regret in life. Leo died at the age of 21 in a barn fire at her grandmother's farm, the fire that appears to be an accident of Leo's own doing. The farm is now the unofficial grave site where the family visits only once a year to mourn. Erica wants things to change, to make Leo's memory more of a happy thought than a somber one. Her idea is to rebuild the barn as both a cathartic exercise and a standing memorial to Leo. This task ends up being difficult for Barb, who cannot let go of how she grieves for her son. Before sending Erica back to that time to allow her to say goodbye to her brother, Dr. Tom stresses to her that her therapy does not allow her to play God to bring back the dead, and that there are dire consequences if she tries to do so. Once back, Erica finds that knowing her brother is going to die and not doing anything about it is more difficult than she could have ever imagined. Erica learns the hard way that there are extreme consequences in every aspect of her life to her decision to try and save Leo.