Dooley M

Small house with greenery around it. All the windows are lit up and the lights on the porch while the sky is pale

My mother is living indoors

By Dooley M November 2, 2026Family

It is hard to believe how life has unfolded. Nine months ago my mother was hospitalized with a physical issue. After nearly six years of my mother going missing, I…

Window with a view of a house and a curtain partly blocking the view

Waking Up From Home Dreams

By Dooley M June 11, 2025Personal

One of the challenges of my mother being homeless is focusing on anything to do with my own well-being. This includes ensuring I have an appropriate home. After many, many…

Lion statue at the New York Public Library

The last of my mother’s things on this last day of the year

By Dooley M December 31, 2024Family

After a year of closing my mother's storage unit, I moved the final load of my mother's belongings out. I started last December with the easiest belongings to deal with…

Woman's hand on a window with raindrops on it seen from outside

Why my homeless mother will never live indoors again

By Dooley M August 4, 2024Family

It is all too common for people with serious mental illness (SMI) to end up on the street. For example, a recent study on homelessness found that "about 25 percent…

Antique photo of woman with wide eyes, dark hair, and dark clothing up to the chin.

Mental Illnesses are Traumatic Events

By Dooley M March 11, 2024Community

Image: Wisconsin Death Trip, detail of a photograph by Charles Van Schaick Mental illnesses are traumatic events, as we say in the family support groups that I attend and facilitate.…

Looking up at four skyscrapers rising into a cloudy sky

When a homeless person goes missing

By Dooley M August 4, 2023Family

Two years ago, my mother, who was and is homeless, went to the hospital with physical symptoms and was admitted. After some visits and discussions, she agreed to go to…

Two hands, together, palms up, with a yellow flower placed between them

Opening the second missing persons report for my mother

By Dooley M July 6, 2023Personal

Some things are easier the second time around. Opening a missing persons report turned out to be one of those things for me. Not easy, but easier. Opening the first…

Man sitting at table with a sign in front of it saying "It's okay to say someone is 'mentally ill.' Change my mind."

My unpopular opinion: It’s okay to say “mentally ill.”

By Dooley M June 30, 2023Community

When I was in college, I had a roommate who found a great many things weird. She used "weird" to describe things more than any other word. In an effort…

Person walking in landscape of large sand dunes leaving tiny footprints behind.

My missing mother: I don’t know a whole lot

By Dooley M June 22, 2023Personal

I opened an envelope and it all changed. Her bank statement has two deposits, her social security and her pension, and no withdrawals. No withdrawals can mean anything, but nothing…

An alley with brightly colored open umbrellas suspended above with a blue sky behind.

Coming back to myself

By Dooley M December 16, 2022Personal

Here I am, coming back to myself after a long time away. I hardly know where to start. The awkward pauses, shuffling on the porch. Remembering how to meet my…

I relocated a spider

By Dooley M June 25, 2022Personal

I relocated a spider this morning before my shower saying, "You do you, just not in the bathtub." Feeling how life has relocated me. Remembering the many times I've ushered…

Subway station, looking down the platform and rails

I thought I saw her on the train platform last night

By Dooley M May 21, 2022Family

I was coming back from a circus show in North Beach. I had gotten there by train, the same train I took to visit my mother when she was in…