The RV, The Apartment & "The Gift"

Suzanne came to town for a 6/29/09 job interview. On the way back to StL, she stopped at mom and dad's and overheard a phone conversation which mom had on the speakerphone. The RV dealer at Grain Valley was calling to say that the new RV they had ordered was progressing and that the man who was measuring the for the specialty wheelchair lift had been by that day, and did she know when she would be able to bring by the deposit? :0 Mom subsequently told Suzanne that they were moving into a 2 BR 2 Bath apt @ the Groves (a senior community in Independence connected with their church) in August. Suzanne later discovered that they had told the RV salesman that they had purchased a new minivan that morning and were leaving for Texas in 2 weeks to come visit Grandma Mattie. They told him (and, I discovered, the leasing agent @ the Groves) that this would all be paid for by a large settlement which they were expecting shortly! (There is no settlement to my knowledge.)

When confronted, they told us that the "settlement" was actually "The Gift." They've been telling us for over a year that God has promised to provide a huge financial blessing to them "which will trickle down to [us]and[our] children and will include a complete physical healing for Dad." They have set (and missed) several specific deadlines about when this gift would arrive.

I called Dr A to check with her re: her medical opinion of Dad's ability to ride to Texas in an RV driven by Mom. They and told me she had approved the trip. She denied that, and suggested that Mom was possibly exhibiting symptoms of manic behavior and suggested I get her into a psychiatrist. The next day, she called to report that they had revoked my medical power of attorney which authorized her to talk with me about their medical conditions. Mom says she went to see a psychiatric nurse practitioner, but I have no knowledge of how that visit went.

I investigated the option of gaining guardianship through the state, but was advised that until they did something really extreme, we couldn't force guardianship.