It had been a few weeks since the wedding of Amira and Uncle Joe and Joe was settling into the married life again. He was 62 years old and felt like he was in his twenties still.  Physically he was fit as a fiddle and exercised regularly but he had been having these attacks recently. The feeling of dread and impending doom would take over and he couldn't breathe. He had expressed his worry over the matter with the family doctor and he was referred to a psychiatrist. Joe was old school and had never seen a head doctor before. He had always assumed they were for crazy people. Never the less Uncle Joe made an appointment to see one. He had to get to the bottom of these spells he had been having. He didn't want his new bride to worry about him and he certainly didn't want friends of his having any doubt about his commitment to the life. 

The day of his appointment had arrived and Joe was nervous. He didn't want anyone to know he was seeing a head doctor so he drove himself to the appointment and parked a few blocks away. He took back allies to the building and entered through the rear to avoid being seen. Joe sat in the waiting room waiting to be called in. All kinds of thoughts were racing through his mind, what if it was just brain cancer or some incurable disease. Maybe it was a tumor, he hoped it was anything besides a legitimate cognitive issue. 

The doctor came out to greet him and he was shocked to see it was a female doctor. He instantly thought to himself no way could he tell some broad about his life. It was gonna be hard enough discussing his issues without going into detail about what he did for a living, though the media and newspapers had made it no great secret. 

Uncle Joe stood and shook the doctors hand as she introduced herself as Dr Olivia Cusanelli before motioning him inside her office. When Joe heard her name he took some relief in knowing she was a fellow paisan, he thought surely she couldn't be too judgemental.

Dr Cusanelli offered Uncle Joe a seat and asked him if he would like a glass of water as she could tell he looked a little bewildered being there. Joe declined the water and sat down, Dr Cusanelli sat down across from him. 

Uncle Joe sat there quietly not knowing how this worked when Dr Cusanelli asked what brought him here. Joe went on to explain that he had been relatively happy lately. He had just married a beautiful woman that loved him and that he had been successful in his business endeavors. Hearing this Dr Cusanelli asked Joe what type of business he was in to which he replied many, but mainly waste management and construction. Sensing it was a touchy topic Dr Cusanelli reverted back to what brought him here. Joe went on to explain that despite his success in business and his personal life he had been suffering from these spells. He explained that he would get short of breath, dizzy as if his legs couldn't support him anymore and he would experience these overwhelming feelings of loss, dread and impending doom. Joe was sweating just talking about it despite the office being extremely cool.

Hearing Joe speak, Dr Cusanelli went on to tell him about depression and anxiety. These were things Uncle Joe had never thought about, he was from the old school, where men of honor didn't crack. He almost refused to think that he could be affected by anxiety or worst yet depression. Uncle Joe had it all, but the fear of losing it all were crippling. He had spent his entire life becoming the man he was today. 

Dr Cusanelli and Joe continued to talk about thoughts of depression and loss and Joe began to open up. He went on to explain that he had fathered a son with his first wife Margaret but that the boy had passed away before he turned five when a drunken driver hit him on his bicycle outside the family home. He went on to explain that he had to be strong for his wife, that he was never able to properly grieve the loss of his little Leoluca. Dr Cusanelli handed Joe a hankerchief as a tear began to roll down his cheek. He admitted he hadn't spoken about that to anyone in over 30 years. It no doubt caused a great deal of sadness and inspired feelings of loss that he just couldn't escape.

Dr Cusanelli and Joe continued to talk until his session was over. Joe had gotten a lot out over the course of an hour.  He looked forward  to his next meeting with Dr Cusanelli and going into more detail about his spells and how to deal with them. Before leaving Dr Cusanelli walked over to her desk and grabbed her prescription pad. She wrote Joe a prescription for antidepressants before scheduling his next appointment. She told him to take two a day and that it should help with all the emotions running through his head. 

Upon leaving the office, Uncle Joe was making his way to the back door to leave. As soon as he exited the building he crumpled up the prescription and threw it in the alley. He would be damned if he took medication for being a headcase. Something he would surely address during his next visit.