CAN'T FORGET DR. YERKES!

CHAPTER 5
“DOCTOR YERKES!”

My psychiatrist, Dr. Raymond Yerkes, has been more than a great psychologist. He’s been a great friend. Ever since I started seeing him in the Putnam Center in Roxbury when I was a kid, he’s helped me out through all the 4 decades he’s been my doctor.
I first met him at the Putnam Center and we’d get together for talks about how I was doing. I told him some of the juicy details of growing up and what was going on. And I found those days with him a blessing.
He was there when I had significant losses in my family: my Uncle Joe(who died after being hit by a car in 1973), my Dad(when he died of mesothelioma in 1988), my nephew Ryan(who died of meningitis in 1996) and my Mom(who died of congestive heart failure in 2008). He helped me deal with the loss of my closest friends. And he was always there to encourage me to continue moving forward.
From the Putnam Center, I followed him to Beacon Street in Brookline, then to Andover(where he had 2 different offices over the 20 years he was there), and finally up to Newburyport, where he lives now. And believe me when I tell you this, traveling to my appointments with him have given me opportunities to experience life around New England.
After our appointments in Andover, for example, Mom and I would go up to New Hampshire where we would shop at Kmart in Salem. I enjoyed buying stuff without any sales tax. After our Putnam Center visits, Mom and I would go over to a nearby shopping mall and have a hamburger at a place called Kemp’s. And after my appointments in Newburyport, on days when the weather is fine, I spend the afternoon walking around the town and seeing what’s up.
Getting back to the Putnam Center, when Dr. Yerkes told me “it’s time to stop,” I’d go ballistic and go running around all over the center. I’d throw tables and chairs down, mess up the books and magazines….and on one occasion, I even woke up all the kids in the nursery school who would take a nap there.
Yes sir, if there’s a man who’s got a seat of honor in the better world, it’s Dr. Raymond Yerkes.