:24:02
During the last five years
of our marriage...
:24:07
...I was becoming more
and more unhappy.
:24:10
More and more troubled.
:24:12
And I really needed
somebody to help me...
:24:16
...but when I turned to Ted, he just...
:24:20
...wasn't there for me.
:24:22
So we became more isolated
from one another...
:24:25
...more and more separate.
:24:28
He was very involved in his career.
:24:31
And because of his attitude
towards my fears...
:24:35
...and his inability
to deal with my feelings...
:24:40
...I had come to have
almost no self-esteem.
:24:44
I was scared and I was very unhappy.
:24:46
In my mind I had no choice
but to leave.
:24:51
At the time I left, I felt that
there was something wrong with me...
:24:56
...and that my son would be
better off without me.
:25:00
And it was only after I got
to California that I realized...
:25:05
...after getting into therapy,
that I wasn't a terrible person.
:25:11
And just because I needed some kind
of creative or emotional outlet...
:25:16
...other than my child,
that didn't make me unfit.
:25:20
I would like to submit in evidence
a report by Mrs. Kramer's therapist...
:25:24
...Dr. Eleanor Freedman.
:25:25
Objection, Your Honor.
:25:27
The report is irrelevant
and not binding on the respondent.
:25:30
Overruled.
:25:33
Can you tell the court why
you are asking for custody?
:25:38
Because he's my child...
:25:40
...and because I love him.
:25:44
I know I left my son.
:25:48
I know that
that's a terrible thing to do.
:25:54
Believe me, I have to live with that
every day of my life.
:25:58
But in order to leave him...