My uncle passed Sunday morning. His funeral is on this Thurs in Utah. Which is about 7hours for my dad. I'm 2hours from my dad after I moved last sept to get married. His van has issues- right now he's keeping the doors closed with bungee cords. I've tried to get him to fix it or come up with ideas for years but he shoots them down. He has a C-5/C-6 injury. He used to talk to my uncle on the phone a few times a week. They were very close. He was in the VA hospital and had a type of Alzheimer’s from welding. My dad wanted to take him out of the VA and bring him back to his house to stabilize him b/c he felt the doctors were over medicating him. He's mad at his kids b/c they just let the doctors medicate him. He likes to think he can cure things. My father has a c-5/c-6 injury. He lost his mom 2 years ago and that was very hard for him. I offered to take him up to Montana to his mom while she was alive. When his brother was moved to the VA hospital I talked to dad about going to see him or maybe I could go get him and bring him for a visit. While my dad thought that was nice he didn't want to mess up my life or whatever excuse it was at the time. His long time personal attendant of 9 years calls me last night and is concerned about him. He's trying to get her to leave her family and take him to the funeral. Over the last 3 days he's drank crown and not slept much. I've talked with him several times. If I sound "bossy" he gets mad at me. I try to reason with him but he will do what he wants. I talked to my youngest brother and he's out of town working. My dad's body won't make the trip but he insists if he keeps drinking he'll be ok. He had trouble making my wedding and it was 2hours away and I had my brothers following him. I talked with my Aunt (his sister) she can't go to the funeral b/c she has long awaited knee surgery on Friday. My dad called her at 2am drunk sat. I don't know what to do. Do I drive with him to the funeral - drive behind him in case something goes wrong. Do I leave work and go down to try to reason with him in person. I feel so torn right now and bad for my dad. I'm work now trying to focus. I will give him a call today to see how he's doing. I've been helping try and find him more help and he keeps running them off. I'm trying not to cry. Its snowing again this morning in Laramie.
Even without the loss of his brother, it sounds like your Dad needs a medical evaluation. The idea of being okay if he keeps drinking is certainly not rational. Disable the vehicle and take away his keys. He is a danger to himself and all those innocent people on the road with him!
Prayers of comfort for your family.