Treatment Resistant, but Resilient

 My dad has dementia. They said it was early stage, but I'm sure it's further progressed than that. He asks all the time where he lived before he married Dawnie. I tell him "Here" and he rolls his eyes. I tell him I bought this house from him after he married Dawnie and he always doubts me. I had to show him where Mom wrote their names in the wet cement. I explained what it was decorated like when he lived here. He asks at least once a week. He asked how long he was with Dawnie. I said 2 years, he said "I thought it was 10". I said, "Mom only died 3 years ago." and he just nodded. On his birthday my sister, AngeLena told him to get on Facebook and see all the birthday wishes. This was huge for him, I had to help him find the birthday wishes, and every couple of minutes he would say a name and look at me, asking who it was or how he knew them. Even after I answered, he would read off the mutual friends and ask how those people knew each other. This ...

 Friday May 1st was Dad's 76th birthday, and Faith's sweet 16th. After the celebrations, I went outside for some yard work since it had cooled down. After a while, I sat down on the front porch to relax in the silence. Suddenly, a car parked in front of my house, and 2 figures came towards me. It was dark so I had no idea who it was. One of them handed me a card and said "give this to Mark please" then walked off without another word. The figure behind that one peeked out from behind the suburban. It was Dawnie. She asked if my dad was home, and if she could see him. I told her I would ask him. I ran inside, panicked. I didn't want her there. I didn't want to let her see Dad. I didn't know how to respond. Jason was asleep, the kids were in bed, and Dad was in the bathroom. I thought that was a perfect reason to tell her he couldn't talk and she would leave. But she didn't care. She asked to wait. I told her she could come inside, and instead of wai...

Carson only spent one night in jail. He didn't get any mental health treatment; he was locked up and then sent home with charges of domestic violence and property damage.  I got a letter regarding a court date for a charge he received while in residential treatment. Then I got a letter regarding a charge for the DV and property damage. One is juvenile court, one is regular adult court. The juvenile court is combining all the charges, the one from residential treatment, and the 3 charges I made for property damage. I have no idea what to expect with that. We have been to court 4 times now, and nothing has happened. The first 2 were the arraignments. He was told not to say anything while the public defender asked for more time to review the case. Court was rescheduled in both instances. Then we went back, and both defense attorneys said they still didn't have the necessary police records so they had to reschedule.  On top of all this, there is another pending charge because Cars...