Abstract:
Following the loss of her husband to ALS, a mother struggles to raise four children alone, and discovers her eldest son and daughter suffer from mental illnesses. She describes her interactions with various public agencies; social, medical and judicial. As she cares for an alcoholic, paranoid schizophrenic son, and a daughter with personality disorder which culminates in suicide, she examines memories from her childhood in a dysfunctional family. She discovers a genetic closet with mental illness, alcoholism, and deviant behavior. Following a fourth marriage, she finds peace, but at the price of letting go of her mentally ill son.