It's A Long Walk From The Street - A journey with a guy named "Joe" - part 12

Battling epilepsy made his life difficult. He was prone to seizures. His grandparents, being in a financial position to make sure that he never had to work, became unwitting enablers. Joe never held a job for more than a couple of months. He also has osteoporosis. Because of a couple of common falls and tumbles, Joe had broken both hips. So, he never developed the sense of responsibility that befalls most adults.

Eventually, her physician informed Joe’s mother that she had to stop drinking or she would die. But she could not break the addiction – and the doctor’s prediction came to pass. Joe and his brother were left in their home without a mother and with a traveling father.

Soon, his father married a woman from an island off the coast of Africa and brought her home. This woman now had the task of entering the life of these two young men – Joe, the older of the two, was only 8 years younger then her. She was the “stepmother.” Shortly thereafter, Joe’s father died. After realizing the difficulty of having two grown alcoholic men in her new home, the widowed stepmother told the young men that they needed to start working and help or move out on their own. The younger brother did both.

Joe, however, moved in with a friend who didn’t require him to work and pay rent. Joe was getting government assistance because of his disability and used it to contribute to the household. After a few years, he could no longer live with this friend. He moved in with a young lady. In lieu of rent, Joe helped out with watching her kids. A few years later, she was evicted. Joe moved in with another guy. A few years later this guys lost his residence. This pattern went on for the rest of Joe’s life.

Finally, at 58 years old, Joe had no one else to live with. His alcohol addiction destroyed the relationships he had with his family. His brother had become a weekend drinker – staying sober during the workweek so that he could support his own wife and kids. Joe’s brother’s children didn’t really know Joe because he didn’t spend sober time around them. Joe didn’t establish a relationship with his daughter. She knew him but didn’t have the kind of relationship where she could bring him into her home with her husband and kids. Joe’s stepmother had tried again to let Joe live with her but it didn’t last. You see, she worked the overnight shift and had come home a few mornings to find her door wide open with Joe gone from the house – and later returning in a drunken stupor. Other mornings she had come home to find Joe and some of drinking buddies from the street corner in the house. Eventually, she put Joe out.