Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tantamount to a tornado in our midst, Jack gets drunk again


It hard to describe how this guy acts when he gets drunk. But I am sure eviction proceedings have begun since he was warned by management that if he ever got drunk again and became a public nuisance he would be evicted. The preceding manager also threatened him with eviction, so he has had second chances for as long as he has been here which is around 10 years. He is the most charming guy in the world when he is sober. Everybody likes him and wants to be around him. He is considerate, smart, and civilized.
Then the tornado hits. Now people are discussing how long he would make it if he were on the street. In this heat, not long I would suspect. He was out talking to us under the trees in the patio just the day before and had been doing so pretty regularly since he came back from the dead after his last drinking bout. I have always been attracted to him, but having seen him drunk have been very wary of his extremist pattern of drinking. He reminds me of my Dad who was quite the suicidal drinker, nearly dying on many occasions and having to be hospitalized nearly every time he got drunk in his later years. His lungs would fill up. He would be in dire straits. Jack's girlfriend is a very attractive senior, but after his last terrible bout, she may have decided she had enough. Her withdrawal might have been the trigger. So many women who did not know about Jack's drinking pattern, since he had been sober five years, thought he would make a great BF. Well, he would if he remained sober, there is no doubt, but it is hard to tell what might set him off.
I remember years ago after he had nearly killed himself he went around to everyone who knew him and asked them to give their opinion about how he could stay sober. I told him he was the most invisible man I knew, which he was at that time. I recommended he try to talk more and assert himself, share himself, which he seemed to find hard to do. I thought that he had been trying to do that more ever since, and was really quite successful in getting more comfortable in group discussion.
I am writing about him now for fear the bell is tolling for Jack. He has had two last minute miracles that saved his life that I know of. He might be all out of miracles. It is extremely dangerous to drink until you are in a walking blackout. Anything could happen to you. People are sad. One of his friends asked me to pray with her for Jack and I did. It is that serious.

On the good news side my sister Linda and my son Dan returned from Utah and I went to breakfast with each of them at different times. We had wonderful visits all the way around. Dan is here for the winter, but Linda will be going back to her home which is now SF in a few days. Her son is flying in from Oklahoma and might drive her home. She still has numb hands so someone needs to.

I was going to do a video of her reading poetry, but Doc's and my camera started rolling and won't quit, then Doc got so aggravated with owning a camera with me, after waiting for me to call all morning, that he said he wanted to buy my share out. I knew this might happen and told him I was thinking of buying a new camera if he would buy me out, so we did not have to see each other that often. Today he was ready and even gave me a little extra bonus on top of what I put into it, so I can buy a new camcorder with no problem. He said we will always be friends, but now he will not have to be so aggravated! So it might take me another couple of weeks to get all the money I need together to buy a new camera, but I am excited. My son Dan will help me to install the soft ware to upload it to my computer. He is a good guy to have around.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've known(and loved) a few people with very bad addictions also, and one of them was a friend my age, my friend since we were 13, who started dying(no other way to say it) last year on this day, August 18th. I remember getting the call that her liver & kidneys was damaged beyond repair & she was in ICU slowly dying. I wish I had an answer, a good one... ~Mary

Paula said...

He is a nice looking man. So sad but I don't know what anyone could do.

Amrita said...

these people are killing themselves

Connie said...

Can't wait to see your new camera.I love my Canon S5IS,I have a 4 GB SD card and can video a long time with it and it holds 9,999 photos.Lord knows I'll never take that many without unloading them,LOL.But it will take long vids.

Lisa said...

Knowing people who have alcohol addictions I find it sad and frustrating trying to deal with them. Part of me wants to just write them off but the other part wants to save them from themselves. But they don't want to be saved. Sad.


Herrad

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