A FAMILY MATTER –
Jan 29, 2021 – Some days her energy was endless. She’d go on massive shopping sprees. I pity the salespeople who encountered Ma’s wrath when her credit card was declined.
My sister and I knew Ma wasn’t well, and we’d beg her to see a doctor. But that would tick her off, because she didn’t believe she was sick. Shannon Wallace grew up with me in Nashville and saw things unravel. “You went from a mother who was fully present, fully involved and attentive, to a mother who was vacant and often clearly in another place that we couldn’t access,” Wallace said about Ma. In 2019, my uncle called saying he wasn’t sure how much longer he could support Ma. I flew down to Florida with a heavy sense of responsibility and fear. When I met Ma at the airport, it was worse than I thought. Ma told me bizarre and untrue stories, like being held at gunpoint over a million dollar cheque, and being married to her former publisher from when she wrote books. Then one social worker suggested – off the record – that I play into Ma’s delusions to convince her to see a doctor. So I hatched a scheme. I asked a friend from Nashville to call Ma and pretend to be her old publisher. She told Ma the million dollar check could be released, pending psychiatric evaluation. The ruse worked. The next day, I took her to see a doctor, and we got an assessment: Ma had Schizoaffective disorder with psychosis. The road map for getting Ma help would involve medication and therapy, but Ma refused. She also refused government assistance, saying she didn’t want any “government money.”
We were back to square one.
