More Setbacks

I guess I should accept that what is peaceful and calming to me is not necessarily so to others. I took Destiny back north to be with her mom, after Shayna decided to move back there unexpectedly. I was looking forward to having an empty nest again, even if it ends up being temporary (Shayna being who she is, who knows when she might decide to head back this way). Apparently Ray doesn't share my enthusiasm for peace and quiet. Even while I was still on my way back from up north, he was saying how much he missed Destiny. He ended up going to Jim's house because he "didn't want to do anything stupid." Apparently he was feeling very depressed and didn't trust himself alone in the house with his guns.

At first we thought he would snap out of it but it just didn't happen. The next day he asked to go to work with me. I thought, what the heck is he going to do for four hours while I'm working? I can't exactly sit and talk with him while I'm working. He walked to Home Depot on one side and then Lowe's on the other and priced out some things. Then he pretty much just hung around on the benches outside until I was done.

The day after that it was still bed. He asked me to "call someone to see if I can get some medication." Now, Ray hates to so much as take an aspirin. For him to ASK for medication there is something seriously wrong. I called the local mental health clinic and they got him in right away. The counselor there recommended medication. We mentioned Ray was a veteran so she called the VA hospital in Marion and was told that all he had to do was bring his DD214 to the ER and they could register him. So off we go to drive the 25 miles to Marion, after dropping his guns off at Jim's. We get there, go through all the paperwork, only to be told we make too much money (HAH that's a joke) Apparently you have to be pretty much penniless and homeless for over a year before the government will live up to their promise to take care of you in exchange for your service to your country.

Later that day the secretary at the VA called us back and said that since Ray was in country during the Viet Nam war he was eligible. So back we go again the 25 miles into Marion (this is beginning to cost a small fortune in gas). They take us back into an exam room and proceed to tell Ray that since he has admitted suicidal thoughts they could not let him leave until he was examined by a psychiatrist, and if it was determined he was an immediate suicide risk he would be admitted to the hospital - in ST LOUIS! Boy, that's really something to tell someone who is already depressed over losing a family member, huh? Tell him that he's going to be taken away from ALL his family. Luckily, they eventually let him go home.

After that, when I had to work I took him to Jim's house to stay with Jim and Kathy. Finally yesterday he felt like he was ready to try to stay home for a while by himself so he stayed here while I went to work. He's been on the Zoloft for a couple weeks now and is doing much better. But while all this was going on NOTHING got done here. Besides, it's been too stinking hot to get much done, anyway.