adios, Lamont

Obi-Wan’s estranged son, Lamont, left the fair mother city today for California. He’s off to visit his sister and I assume he will never come back here.

Lamont has been in town since February. That’s about when his father was in the hospital getting his leg removed.

I have been friends with Obi-Wan since we moved to this undisclosed location we call home about four years ago. He was 86 then and still mowed his own yard, cooked and etc. Now he’s 90, wheelchair bound, and in need of assistance for everything.

Earlier this year Obi-Wan’s niece from Waco arranged for some home health care workers to care for him 24/7. At $6 and hour, 24 hours a day, all week, that came to over $1000 a week. He makes about $850 a month with social security, so this care arrangement was very short lived.

The niece convinced Obi-Wan’s son Lamont to come and care for him.

Lamont lived in Houston and had his own life. Not to mention, Obi-Wan and Lamont were never close. Obi-Wan never raised him in the first place and he still treats his son like dirt and refers to him as “that boy”, even though Lamont’s almost 60. But Lamont moved to the fair mother city anyway.

Lamont and I seemingly had a rough relationship at first. But somehow we got to know each other and I soon realized that he himself was in desperate need for “an ear to listen”.

Lamont’s life at Obi-Wan’s was hell: he couldn’t do anything right. Obi-Wan criticized his every move, even when that move was blatantly helping his father. Lamont was trying is best to assist his dad and give him a decent quality of life in his own home, but Obi-Wan's stubbornness fought him, insulted him, and belittled Lamont every step of the way.

This has been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever been involved in. Obi-Wan is my friend and that will never change. But I’m watching him make foolish and harsh decisions based on ill family relations, emotions and independence. Agent Wife and I have been caught in the cross fire of Obi-Wan and Lamont more than once. And he (like anybody) doesn't want our unsolicited advice.

So, Lamont is gone. And honestly, I can’t blame him as a person can only take so much abuse. I told Lamont that I’m convinced he did the right thing: he sacrificed all he had in Houston and came to care for his father. A father who hated him. And he gave it his best try.

Somehow, I’m convinced that this will not go unrewarded by the CEO. All the best to you, Lamont. We’ll miss you here in the neighborhood and I hope our paths cross again someday.