Tuesday Diamond Jim Junior called me. His father, our dear hero of this story, has decided we are all out to get him. We are the crazy ones and we are all trying to ruin his life. Actually, Diamond Jim apparently did not include me in this indictment, but given I am one of the masses who feel he is a danger to himself, I lumped myself into this category.
The truth is, Diamond Jim IS a danger to himself. He refuses to have a doctor diagnose him or get medication that may help him, so there is no legal grounds to help him at this time. But, Diamond Jim has wrecked one car from lack of cognition. He hasn't paid the tickets from that wreck, so there is probably a warrant out for his arrest. Half of the time I see him, he thinks I am his daughter or his landlord--and on one occasion insisted that a worker at his house call me to pay his bill. He is convinced a quarter of the time, 15 year old Buckaroo is Diamond Jim Junior. Jim isn't paying his bills, including but not limited to: his mortgage (Junior got his mortgage caught up last week), water, electricity, and internet. Internet isn't as big a deal, because that means he can't access the IRS site. And he thinks the rest of them (us, lump me in) are bullying him when they (we) say he should never, ever do taxes again.
Diamond Jim gets lost going to the basic of places and forgets who he is meeting. One biggie was a few months ago, old family friends called Junior. These folks hadn't talked to Diamond Jim in years. However, Diamond Jim was 40 miles from home and called them, wanting to know exactly which restaurant they were meeting at. Last week he went to visit a client (actually a past client,) to help him with his taxes. He was sixty miles out of town, going the wrong direction, before he called them and asked for directions. No meeting had been scheduled.
On top of all this, his pride gets in the way. So, in moments of lucidity, he will make up yarns to cover his tracks. It is frustrating, because I can't always tell if he believes his fibs or if he is doing it because he thinks he has duped me. He's a terrible liar. Junior and I have talked about this extensively. He can't decide either.
I was supposed to put his house on the market next week, but I am not going to do so with him there--besides, the place he was supposed to move into next month, Diamond Jim called and cancelled so he has nowhere to go. There is no point on trying to sell his home (I have a legal agreement to do so) under the circumstances because I can't guarantee I could even get in or bring a buyer in. Besides, where would Diamond Jim go now? He just lost his assistive care apartment family members pulled strings to get him into. Most likely if this goes on much longer, the home will go back to the bank because he keeps forgetting to pay his bills.
When Junior called Tuesday, he told me he needed to step back. I can't say I blame him. He and his wife flew out here, sorted all of his stuff, found registered letters from bill collectors, lots of rotten food and tons of other items that don't make the case for him being on his own. He said he needed a couple of days. I told him to take a week. I am going to. There is no way I am calling Diamond Jim under these circumstances. I do have a call into adult services to get some advice but that's all I am doing right now. My heart aches for Jim but it is probably best if we all step back. Hopefully when cooler heads prevail, it won't be too late to help him.
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