More Dammit ... It IS Menopause!

My father was everything I could hope for in a dad: hard- working; great provider; loved me like crazy. Best of all, he believed in me beyond a shadow of a doubt. In fact, I was so special to him that he talked about me constantly. My cousins were probably sick of hearing about my latest accomplishment. When he was 92, he experienced a TIA (mini-stroke). Not long after that, he and his companion asked me to help him with paying his bills. I began planning to take on the request. After changing his mind multiple times, it became evident something was amiss. After several subsequent lengthy conversations, I learned he suddenly was convinced it was my secret agenda to take over all his assets and move him into assisted living, neither of which was true. And not only that, he was telling these “facts” to everyone and anyone who would listen.

After repeated attempts to exonerate myself, I realized this man was someone I do not know. The amazing man I called my dad is gone forever. The man who was my biggest fan is never coming back. He’s been replaced by this fragile man who is easily psychologically bullied and influenced by an unfamiliar woman who mysteriously came into his life by way of a grief group he joined several years ago when my mom died. This is a woman who has verbally bullied him so severely that within a three-month period, he requested I limit my contact with him to only when his companion is out of town. Meanwhile, he continues to tell relatives about how I’m trying to take all his money and move him out of his home.