Another Opportunity for Trouble

Dan talked about visiting his mum last night. I’m planning to drop him at Kelly’s place and collect Meagan this evening after work. She’ll spend the weekend here with me while her brother visits the asylum in Acton.

“Mum called today, Dad. She said she’d be ‘monitoring’ my internet usage.”

I know that will not happen, Ms J. Kelly will not ‘monitor’ anything these days. It’s all she can do to look after herself. Meagan watches the baby. I don’t know who watches Meagan.

“I’m looking forward to going on line with Tawnya again. I just want to let her know I’m OK and maybe set up a meeting somewhere. She really needs some help, Dad.”

Tawnya. I had hoped I’d never hear that name again. Tawnya. The last time Dan chatted with her, he ended up in hospital. She called here a few days ago. I told her Dan was fine and asked her never to phone again.

I don’t want Dan on line with these girls. He cannot handle it. He seems not to know the difference between fantasy and reality on MSN or YAHOO messenger. He thinks he’s in Love with these girls. And he thinks they feel the same toward him. Maybe they do. But if so, they’re just as delusional as Dan. My son is depressive. He has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And he suffers sometimes from panic attacks. His medicine helps, but not always, apparently. And when he gets “crazy”, he turns to substance abuse to try to feel better. Chatting on line seems to trigger this behaviour. I phoned a friend.

“What should I do, Jenn?” I asked. “Should I call Kelly and tell her my fears, or should I just ‘Let go and let God’? I mean, maybe I should just let Dan move toward these phantom romances. If he wants heart break, maybe I should let him have his way. But I really don’t think it’s healthy for him, right now, to be courting internet sweethearts.”

Jennefer offered her wisdom. I listened.

“I hear your concern, Dale. Your concern is for Dan’s welfare. You aren’t meddling or trying to control him. You want him to heal. Call Kelly. Tell her your feelings, just the way you told me. I’m sure she’ll understand. Maybe internet access is the only reason Dan wants to visit his mum.”

So I called Kelly. Left her a message. I was glad she didn’t answer the phone. She called back an hour later. Left me a message.

“You’re right, Dale. I’ll tell Dan he’s not allowed to use the internet. Thanks for calling.”

We shall see.

I noticed a new screen saver here this morning:
I Miss Tawnya

We're not out of the woods yet, Ms J.