“Life Is Much More Unexpected Than I Expected.” – Marty Coleman

Did you wonder where I had gone? Why no napkins for a number of days?

Well, this napkin explains it.

But I can also explain a bit more.

The daughter who gave me the napkins back on Father’s Day (read the story about the napkins to understand) moved to Tucson, AZ under trying circumstances about 1 1/2 years ago. She initially communicated sparsely, with no return address and no telephone. Then all communication stopped. When she missed cards on birthdays we started to really worry and so over Thanksgiving 2008 her younger sister drove to Arizona to look for her. She found her and spent a number of days with her, reporting back to her mother and me (we are divorced) about what she was learning of her life style and health, mentally and physically. We decided we needed to go to Tucson also to talk to her, which we did the day after Thanksgiving.

We talked to her the next day and it was a bit more confrontational than we would have liked. She didn’t react well but eventually agreed to and got a neutral evaluation of her health. We talked after that evaluation and she agreed to talk to someone about issues she knew she had to deal with. She promised she would communicate with us so we would know she is safe. She said she would see us the next day at a cafe she frequents. She didn’t show up to see us that day or the next. We left without further communications.

On the positive side we met her landlord (she lives in an outbuilding on the lady’s ranch). She was instrumental in getting our daughter to go to the initial evaluation. We were very impressed with her willingness to help us out and her insight from years of practice of teaching and helping people in similar situations. She gave us great confidence that our daughter has someone watching out for her. We met a number of her friends as well, and we found them all to be very loving and caring with a good level of understanding of our daughter. We now have addresses and phone numbers of people who can help us and can tell us if she is in danger or is in need of help.

We will hope for the best; that she will communicate with us, no matter how minimal it is, and that she will seek and get the help she needs to resume functioning at a healthy level.

Send good thoughts, ok?

PS – I decided I want this quote on my tombstone.