Category: Family

N. and I know each other pretty well. I can generally tell when he has been taking drugs and when he is lying. The drugs show up in his attitude and speech. The lying is more subtle. It begins with a vague tension. I find myself uneasy with his attitude, with some detail in his…

When we last saw n. in this Web log, last Wednesday (Dec. 1/04) he had his foot in the door. He went out that night, and came back last night. He went to his classes on Thursday, and he kept his first appointment with a psychiatrist on Thursday and an appointment with his mom and…

N. has been spending most of his nights here, showering, doing his laundry, taking a few meals, since Monday November 22. I have had several discussions with him. He has seemed to be more empathic, more considerate, more helpful, more willing to accommodate my feelings, more candid, but he is still not managing his life.…

I started to write this as an update on n’s struggle to come home now, and my struggle to trust him enough to assess his progress, but not to be pressured or conned. He is disappointed that I won’t let him come home right now. He is reacting by withdrawing and threatening to live on…

Another few weeks have passed since n. came home sick. He didn’t stay, but he has made some changes and wants to come home. We are talking a lot, and he is being less angry.

It has been a strange evening. My wife called and said she had responded to a call from n. and taken him to a doctor. She said he was sick, and that she couldn’t get CFS to find him a bed for the night. She said he couldn’t stay where she was staying. He needed…

I haven’t given’t up the blog. I have spent much of the last few weeks cycling, reading, watching TV, spending time with family and friends. Along the way, I have had some household projects – small repairs and some shopping for kitchen items and minor furniture so that Claire and I can cook for guests…

My father had scheduled day surgery for a hernia this morning. It was a simple day surgery, but at 75, diabetic and with a history of cardiac issues, nothing is safe or sure. It went well. He had declined my offers to get him to the hospital over the last few weeks, but accepted at…

My chronicle of my feelings about n’s efforts to fight his boredom with drugs, gaming fantasies, heavy metal, anarchy, satanism and street life have been archived under the category heading of “Family & Life”. It has taken a life of its own and I have moved the posts to an archive sub-category called “Prodigal Son.”…

I saw n. and met his friend Nigel when they came to my house unannounced early yesterday evening. N.’s duffel bag had appeared in my back yard when I came home from work. He rang the doorbell a short while later. N. didn’t introduce Nigel until I asked, near the end of the visit. N.…