My father is disabled and broke and lives on a social security check that totals about $1300 a month. His prescription drugs cost him almost $500 a month. My brother Doug and I own the house he lives in and we pay the mortgage. Because he is considered indigent, and unable to fully care for himself, the State provides a maid to come and clean his home twice a week. He also receives a free meal every day from a charity. He says the meal is horrible and so he gives it to the maid. I’m not sure that’s legal. The maids change frequently – the state doesn’t pay very well and the turnover rate is high. His current maid has epilepsy and my dad found her lying on the floor of his bathroom having convulsions. I asked if he was going to complain and he said he wasn’t.
“She's nice,” he said. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.”
My father keeps all his medications on the kitchen table. All $500 a month worth. He takes everything from anti-depressants to pain-killers. He takes Prozac and Oxycontin. Once he told me that the maid was always cleaning around the table and it drove him crazy.
“Maybe she's stealing your pills,” I said.
“I never thought of that,” he replied.
Now my father counts his pills every day. His memory isn’t that sharp and sometimes he thinks he’s missing pills when he’s not.
I inadvertently created a monster.
He still won't complain about her though.