Finally Came Up With a Plan for Life with My Alcoholic Son

After nine years of chronic alcoholism, forty-five trips to the hospital, fourteen 5150s, four 5250s, five stints in rehab, and five recent stints in detox, I've finally come up with a realistic plan to manage life with my alcoholic son. It's taken a year and a half to implement, but here it is...

First, I filed, and was granted, a three-year restraining order from my house ONLY, not from me. This is because his sister, the pets and I will not live in his chaos and will not be trapped inside the house with him, although we love him dearly.

Second, I petitioned for a new program here called CARE Court (there may be a similar program in other states). This way my son has a CARE Team though DMH (Dept of Mental Health) that outreaches to him three times a week in his car, where he's now living. They also do therapy sessions with him, offer to arrange and transport him back to rehab, and bring him water bottles, snacks, and even clothes if he needs them.

Third, I ordered two sets of cheap fabric drawers for the back corner of my living room, where my son's old quarters used to be when I tried taking him back in. That way, when the seasons change, he can trade me his summer clothes for his winter clothes.

I'm happy to charge his small portable generator once a week for him and pass anything else he asks for through the bars of my security gate so he can't try to get back in the house. Where does he live in his car, which he refuses to move, you ask? You guessed it. He lives in my parking lot.