On serious mental illness, homelessness, and family.
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Let’s start here
Homeless people are as diverse as other people we group together. I have heard friends and acquaintances talk about “these homeless people” followed by some overall judgement about how they’re all on drugs or they all break into people’s homes and cars. It’s easier to oversimplify, pass judgement, and move on. Homelessness is a difficult…
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When she stopped being my mother
I remember the moment when she stopped being my mother. I realized that even as a grown adult that I could not count on her for my most basic needs. It was 2003. I had been on vacation and couldn’t reach my mom by phone when I came back. When my boyfriend and I went…
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Some people think people with mental illness are out of touch with reality
My mother is reading “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
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These homeless people…
Are alone in the world. Have a partner. Have children. Have community around them. Have who families don’t know where they are. Have families who cannot convince them to accept help. Have Anosognosia and cannot see they need help. Have created family on the streets. Are old, young, families, singles. Have mental illness. Have drug…
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This is huge
One of the things I monitor with my mother is her feet. Feet are one of the things that can suffer greatly when someone is homeless, and my mother is no exception. She only wears one pair of shoes and wears them all the time, even sleeping. She sleeps sitting up and that lack of…
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If wishes were horses
People wish for many things. We wish for things to be other than how they are. We wish that bad things would not happen. We wish for terrible things to be better than they are. When things do not go as wished, it can be hard to explain. Sometimes we think it’s unlucky. Sometimes we…
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Two books
I picked up two books from mom tonight. I offered to take them to storage. Though she said she would do it herself, she agreed when I told her I wanted her not to have to carry so much. She took them out of her bag, one wet and molding. “I should give you a…
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You never really know
I was talking tonight with a woman who had offered to help with my mom. She had set aside a comp. ticket to hear her music group perform. I didn’t go and wanted to thank her. I had put off calling her since I hadn’t explained anything to her about my mother other than she…
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The news
I can’t read the news today. Four dead from the cold in Portland since the beginning of the year. My friends, full of compassion and righteous anger, make feelings known. I am grateful for them, yet it guts me quietly. I wish I didn’t have to know. Here, it is raining torrentially for days. I…
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Getting used to this
It’s happening. She’s meeting with the psychiatric liaison at the police department, someone who could help change her life. After trying to get her help and mostly failing, it is the best thing that’s happened all year. Still she’s on the street. It is more awful than I can imagine for her and I’m getting…
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I have a story
I have a story inside me and I’m afraid it’s so big it could blot out the sun. It rocks in the ocean of my belly and the waves come out in tears. My face knows this place where I have never smiled, still as stone. I have a story that rings from under glass.…
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How long does it take to get a 78 year old woman off the street?
I’ll give you a hint: she’s now 79 and still on the streets.