Kentucky Kaleidoscope

The Coins

One day, my mother's life took a turn for the worse as her adventures led to a series of unfortunate events. She had gone to visit her relative for what would be the final time.

This particular relative who had been involved in a terrible boating accident when my mother was a small child, resulting in the passing of her father. He carried a heavy burden of guilt, believing it was his fault that her father had died and that my mother had been affected by it. Which of course was completely inaccurate on all accounts.

When my mother arrived at a relatives with a large bag of over-night items in hand, informing him that she intended to live with him, he displayed remarkable patience and grace, unlike most people would in such a situation. But being of a late age was stressed because there was never an agreement of this.

However, as this behavior continued and my mother even made unsettling attempts to solicit uncomfortable topics one might find in an Agatha Christie novel, the relative and his son decided that it was time for my mother to cease her visits.

On her third visit, the police were called. I was not present during this distressing incident, but from accounts provided by others and my mother herself, she adamantly refused to comply with the police.

In that moment, she claimed to have heard an audible voice from the Lord, instructing her to rest as she had completed seven days of work. Consequently, she decided that it was the perfect time to lay in the grass and resist arrest.

As a result, my mother was subjected to pepper spray, and taken into custody. While the use of pepper spray may seem excessive, considering my mother's petite stature, she possesses surprising strength, so it does not entirely surprise me.

At the small jailhouse a mental assessment was conducted on my mother, and within seconds, it became evident that she was in dire need of assistance. They promptly contacted one of my relatives for assistance. As I was in late stage pregnancy with my second child. And could not assist her like I wanted.

I always heals a heavy weight of guilt for not being there for my mother like I wanted to be.

Thankfully she was placed in patient and received help for her chemical imbalances. Instead of jail-time.

A few months later, one of my relatives received a phone call from our mother, who claimed that something of great value had been delivered to the hospital. After months of being forcefully medicated with antipsychotics, my mother's condition began to improve gradually. Though she still exhibited some signs of being disconnected from reality, such as disbelieving in the existence of my second daughter, we were simply grateful that she was no longer attempting anything from dateline or traveling across the country with multiple burner phones. We felt a sense of relief.

Given that one of my relatives had been granted emergency guardianship, she had access to our mother's belongings and information, primarily due to the guardianship.

Initially, my close relative didn't take our mother's claim about the valuable package seriously, as she often made such statements. However, when she received a genuine phone call from the hospital confirming the presence of a package containing $7,000 worth of silver coins, she was taken aback.

During my mother's psychotic episodes and while being administered medication through injections, similar to scenes in movies, she had managed to order a substantial amount of bullion coins worth $7,000 and have them shipped to the hospital. Interestingly, mental hospitals have special safes for patients who engage in such antics.

We discovered this when my sister inquired about it, and the hospital staff recounted another story of a patient who had done something similarly outlandish. This incident will likely find its place in the history books of the hospital she was staying.

I was also very impressed with my mom as I was often in mental hospitals in my early 20's and I would have never been able to accomplish such a task as pirating a literal treasure without a cell phone or internet.