Mama Mia

My mom is amazing. Right now, she is dealing with way more than her fair share in regards to taking care of my Mom-Mom, or grandmother.

She is one of 5 siblings. Her only sister lives in Florida. Her one brother, let's call him "Money-Bags," lives nearby, and while very helpful in the department of money and providing chiropractic treatments for Mom-Mom, he is otherwise out of touch. Another brother lives in a duplex with Mom-Mom, and also provides monetarily for her, but due to some stuff that went down recently does not talk to her or visit her on her side of the house. The last brother has gone off the deep end.

More on that one, because it really affects the situation now. About a year ago, his wife decided she wanted a divorce. He moved out of their house (oh, which is a really nice house because her parents won a multi-million dollar lottery), and back to the other house they own, which is on the same street as my mom's house and my Mom-Mom's duplex. This summer he started acting very odd.

In the past, he was known as the funny uncle. He always had a lot of friends and was the guy that made everyone laugh. All of a sudden he became very negative and paranoid. He would be at a family gathering and just disappear. He started writing rambling notes and leaving them all over the place. He thought that there were cameras and recording equipment everywhere. He went to the police station early one morning with a note that made them surround my mom's block with SWAT team members. The police took him to a mental health facility, but he signed himself out the next day. He returned that same week and was transferred to a facility that required him to stay and receive medication and actually have a hearing before he was allowed out. He was there a few weeks, and upon returning, he seemed better, but he was withdrawn.

Recently, he started acting strange again. My mom had me talk to him as a kind of intervention, since I'm no stranger to mental health issues or even the one facility he had to go to. The next day he checked himself back in, but he's out one day later.

Anyway, he was the only other person that was helping my mom take care of Mom-Mom. But, my mom had to change the locks, because when he visits with Mom-Mom he acts so strangely that it upsets her, even though she doesn't always know which end is up.

So now, my mom is the only person physically taking care of Mom-Mom, and she has to worry if her brother is going to do something crazy, while the rest of the siblings are far away or not dealing with it. I try and cook and send my leftovers to Mom-Mom, so my mom doesn't have to worry about cooking, but I know that's just a small thing.

On top of everything, my mom is still (but hopefully not for long) married to my father, and he has his own mental health issues.

Oh yeah, and my mom has 5 kids of her own.

She is the most selfless person I have ever known, and it makes me so sad that at 61, she has the weight of the world on her shoulders.