@suzleigh
That is beautiful. Thank you for sharing. A hopeful outcome. My son returned late last night to get out of the cold - after having a Good Samaritan provide a hotel room the previous night. He then proceeded telling me for over an hour about how he knew exactly what his direction was. To let him be a man and take care of his own future. I quietly listened to avoid him storming off into the cold. This morning - after we were both well rested ( well, I was actually up half the night researching how to handle things ) I told him this morning that I love him and I am here for him and reiterated that to stay in my home he needed to accept professional help he deserves - so - as anticipated - he stormed off in search of good samaritans, but this time he left his bag. If he can’t find his good Samaritans I suspect he will come again to tell me how wrong I am (he parted throwing to me ugly words - but it is not my son, it was the mental illness ) and will no doubt count on me backing down as I did three years ago when I trusted him naively that boot strap strength was enough. I love him enough to remain strong for his best interest - true help, no more bandaides. There is hope for my son as well - he just needs to take my hand to be pulled out of the well - rather than trying to pull me in. As that serves no one.