The request took me by surprise.
“Bruce, we have a gentleman here who needs to get to a sober house. He says he can’t find it,” our receptionist explained.
Okay. So, I went out expecting to find a jittery drunk. I shook his hand and looked him over, but he was not shaky at all, nor did I smell liquor on him. He wore a hospital bracelet, had an abrasion on his head, and smelled dirty, but not drunk.
Since I was about to meet with a friend, I asked my friend if he would be up for a talk and adventure while we drove. He was. So, I asked the man if I could drive his car and have our friend follow. He vehemently refused, which should have been another red flag. After further questioning and observation, we secured the address to our destination, watched the man in question walk to check again for his road worthiness, and we made a plan for him to follow me.
He did. At about 20 mph. Eventually, he sped up to 30 mph and kept his car between the lines just fine. Fortunately, he also used the brakes appropriately.
However, about 7 miles into our journey, a car came between us when a lane closed for construction. Peering into my rear view mirror, I watched as he hung a right as we crossed the intersection.
“Why did he turn?” we asked. Immediately, we turned onto the next side street and actually caught back up with him…in the middle of the city! We were very proud of ourselves.
Zooming ahead of him and motioning for him to follow us, as we put on the hazard lights again, he gave us a deadpan look. He didn’t seem to recognize us at all. Keeping an eye on him in the rearview mirror, we watched in vain as he once again hung a right onto an expressway.
We would not find him again this time.
Then it hit me. Perhaps he was a functional alcoholic covering it very well. But, he definitely suffered from some level of dementia.
How could I have missed it? Why else would he be unable to find his way? Why else would he not recognize us at all after 10 minutes of following? Dementia.
And so, we ended our little adventure. But his continued. And I hope it ended with a safe arrival.
Worth Repeating
Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have.
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
