Morning word: Adult Protective Services in Tucson spent two hours talking to Helen, then upset my sister in Los Angeles by calling about all the same bullshit: Helen told them she has five kids, but no one will help her. No one will help her? Oh, please. I expect they’ll be calling me too. The reality is that no one can help her…
It’s a crazy-making vortex. There’s no way to “win,” it can’t be defeated. Anyone who gets involved risks serious damage. The old woman is choosing to die by going straight out of her mind. That’s why she moved into a living grave. I could get her into the fanciest nursing home in Tucson or Austin if she’d only agree, but no hope there, apparently. She’s also practiced her litany of imagined offenses against her so many times that she can tell it to strangers and sound halfway sane.
Astonishing, isn’t it?
Related posts:
- The Helen Chronicles, Part II: Who Made This Mess?
- The Helen Chronicles, Part V: Free at Last
- The Helen Chronicles, Part XII: Signing Off
- The Helen Chronicles, Part I: The Context
- The Helen Chronicles, Part III: Abandoned Beauty
