Today I managed to pick up my father's belongings and all of the items I had dropped off for him at the psych hospital last week. At first, they said only my father or brother could. My sister told my dad that yesterday, and Dad said he would never go there for them. I was pissed off because a) my dad skipped out on the psych hospital/rehab after being released from the general hospital, and b) I spent a lot of money on the stuff I took to the psych hospital. I wanted it back, not just because of the $$ part, but the principle.

I drove 45 mins to my sister's house after picking up the clothes. She only lives down the street from my father. I was not going to visit my father, though. I left the clothes with my sister. I ended up taking my adult nephew out to lunch. On the way back, when we passed my father's house (which is unavoidable), my dad spotted us. I waved, but didn't stop and didn't visit him on my way home. I need more time to see if he's going to go back to his destructive ways and get sicker again. Plus, I don't want to seem to be enabling/accepting his stupid decision to skip out on the psych hospital/rehab. As Al-Anon suggests, I have to look out for myself. I'm still severely stressed by all of this.

When I first got to my sister's house, my brother-in-law became very emotional. He hugged me and started crying telling me how much everyone loves me. I have to say it was awkward. I don't hate my brother-in-law, but I am not close to him because he had a history of verbally abusing my sister and nephews. After he quit drinking, that eased a little, but not completely. I do believe it has eased even more since my youngest nephew lost his life to suicide. It does still bother me that my brother-in-law verbally abused him, but I decided to just let it go, to a degree. I don't believe it helps anyone holding grudges. I'm not a grudge holder, anyway. My sister doesn't want me to dwell on it, so I just try not to.