Carol Monologues

An aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York.

Dearest. There are no accidents and he would have found us one way or another. Everything comes full circle. Be grateful it was sooner rather than later. You'll think it harsh of me to say so, but no explanation I offer will satisfy you. Please don't be angry when I tell you that you seek resolutions and explanations because you're young. But you will understand this one day. And when it happens, I want you to imagine me there to greet you, our lives stretched out ahead of us, a perpetual sunrise. But until then, there must be no contact between us. I have much to do, and you, my darling, even more. Please believe that I would do anything to see you happy. So, I do the only thing I can… I release you.

My angel. Flung out of space.

Just when you think it can't get any worse, you run out of cigarettes.

Now what happened with Therese… I wanted. And I will not deny it.

So that's the deal. I won't, I cannot negotiate anymore. You take it or leave it. But if you leave it, we go to court. And if we go to court... it'll get ugly.

And we're not ugly people, Harge.

Isn't that something other people let you know you have? All you can do is keep working. Use what feels right. Throw away the rest.

I'm no martyr. I have no clue what is best for me. But I do know, and I feel it in my bones, what is best for my daughter.

Now, I want visits with her, Harge. I don't care if they're supervised. I just want them to be regular.

There was a time when I would have done almost anything. I would have locked myself away to keep Rindy with me. What use am I to her, to us, if I'm living against my own grain?

Harge, I want you to be happy. I didn't give you that. I failed you. We both could have given more, but… we gave each other Rindy. And that is the most breathtaking, the most generous, of gifts.