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Friday 8/17/90
Dear Harry
Your summer sounds much busier and more productive than mine, though I have achieved what I needed to. I've been chasing down relatives that we've lost contact with over the years. A lot of them fell out with Mom over the years because of Mom's illness and some because they didn't like William Reid and hadn't heard he'd left us. I've taken your track and stopped calling people who don't want to be related to me by our relationship instead of their name. I think you will guess who William Reid is or used to be to me. Listening to Mom's friends and relatives tell my mother 'I told you so' and the way they refer to me as his son instead of Mom's son, I can understand why Mom didn't want to tell them but I think she should have anyway. They were shocked when I told them how bad her really bad days had gotten when she didn't take her medication and how hard it was sometimes to get her to take them regularly. Mom seems happy to have most of them back in her life, though she is still cross that I called them.
Aunt Ethel and Uncle Daniel have visited a few more times and I'm getting to know them better. I've been trying to use deductions on them, which has really only shown me how hard it is. Ethel is Mom's sister and some of there gestures and way of speaking is very alike when Mom's having a better day. She also is an English literature teacher but works part time at a private high school instead of at the university like Mom. She's married to Uncle Travis, turns out that Uncle Daniel is actually her and Mom's cousin, Travis a business man and was away the first time Aunt Ethel came to visit so she brought Cousin Daniel for support, Travis is away for work a lot, I don't remember meeting him before and even now I don't know exactly what he does. They live in a small town just North of Vegas and like I told you wanted Mom and I to move there with them but Mom won't go. I think that Uncle Travis is one of the reason's she didn't agree. He didn't say anything to indicate that we weren't welcome to move in with them but I got the impression that he preferred us not to and was relieved when Mom continued to refuse.
Travis has only come once, and seemed to be in a hurry to leave again. I deduced that he was uncomfortable with Mom, perhaps because of her illness or perhaps some other reason because Mom was having a really good day when he was here. I think he might be worried about how observant Mom is. She always deduces me correctly, I can rarely hide anything from her when she's herself. Perhaps there's something shifty or dishonest going on. But I think that I'm guessing, not deducing. He's not having an affair or if he is, then he doesn't feel guilty about it but I'm sure there is something he's trying to hide from us.
Aunt Ethel has visited a couple of times a week and Uncle Daniel at least once a week also sometimes with Aunt Ethel and sometimes on his own. Neither of them have been around for any of the really bad days yet but Aunt Ethel came one day when Mom was lecturing and she looked so sad. I tried to explain to her that it was okay that Mom was happy teaching her class even if it was just the two of us. It almost helped but then Mom told us off for talking and it was clear she didn't know who either of us was and she got so upset I told her to leave the room before she upset Mom. That Mom would probably lecture for another hour and then hold office hours and she could speak to her then as long as she was prepared to play along. I'm getting more confident that Aunt Ethel and Uncle Daniel will find the time to help Mom but I'm still worried that they won't be able to cope when she has a bad day.
Mom's best friend Jan owns a shop that sells aromatherapy and crystals and things. She believes in Aura's and fortune tellers and psychic healing. She's also very anti government and I worry that her opinions will set off more of Mom's paranoid delusions about the government spying on her, or that she will try to heal her and make things worse. She was a hippy in her youth and hasn't really grown out of it like most people did. Mom's other best friend, Susan, owns a Bakery, they're almost polar opposites. Susan's very practical and down to earth, and Jan seems flakey and a lot more naïve than she is from the stories they tell. They both live within about an hour from here so I'm surprised I didn't know Susan and Jan before I went looking for someone to help me with Mom's care during the school year. I think that they'll be able to cope with Mom's bad days better than Aunt Ethel but I'm not sure how reliable Jan will be.
A third friend, Simon, is a fellow professor from UNLV. I vaguely remember him from when I was very young and Mom was well enough to work. He teaches modern literature and I enjoyed discussing books with him. He's one of those people who spends most of his time working and reading, there really aren't many personality habits to deduce, he has a cat that he's fond of, there were cat hairs in his lap and he's a smoker though not a heavy one, you can smell it but there's not discolouration on his hands and no smoker's wrinkles, and he was with us for a couple of hours without lighting a cigarette or getting agitated like he needed one. He spends a lot of time writing by hand, he has strong pen callouses but the tips of his fingers are soft as if he doesn't spend time typing, and he walks as if his shoes are too small, I can't think why. But where does all that deducing get me? I still can't tell if he's trustworthy to look after Mom while I'm at Caltech.
Anyhow I think that Mom will now have enough support while I'm away at school though most of her friends oscillate between disbelief that I could really have got into a college as prestigious as Caltech, and disapproval that I'm leaving my mother. I pointed out to them that her needs are never going to change and if I gave in and stayed home with her now I'd be caring for Mom for the rest of my life on a minimum wage because I couldn't afford to go to college without the extremely generous scholarship Caltech has offered me. The best thing I can do is get the best education I can and earn enough to pay for her care in the future if she continues to get worse and needs it. I told them that nobody should really expect a twelve year old to be the primary carer for anyone, I'm still a kid and I deserve to have the chance to be a kid, they're the adults, they should be looking after Mom and me. That shut them up, but I don't think they really changed their opinions of me. It doesn't matter though, they don't have to like me as long as they stay in touch with Mom and support her while I'm at Caltech.
In response to your question about Petunia and Dudley, I'm sure she does love him. Some parents buy their children too many sweets and takeaways because it's what they were brought up on themselves and they don't know any better, others out of laziness or an inability to afford or to cook healthier foods. Or she is being bullied into it by Dudley and Vernon, and does it to keep the peace as you suggested. I honestly don't think that Petunia can see the harm she is doing him. If she could then she would try to do things differently
I wish you were here.
Your friend
Spencer.
A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.