DEAR ABBY: I was molested by my father when I was 8. I am now 28, and I thought I'd gotten over it. I have had no contact with my father since I was 14.
I recently heard that he was living like a bum on the streets, and was treated for an overdose of someone else's prescription for psych meds. He is now in a home, and my brother, who lives near him, does what he can. My thought is, how dare he expect any of his children to care at all about him?
On the other hand, it's medically documented that he is "mental." Are we supposed to have compassion for the mentally ill? -- DAUGHTER OF A CRAZY, AVON, IND.
DEAR DAUGHTER: Compassion, yes. Amnesia, no. Much would depend upon whether your father was delusional when he molested you. But no one -- including me -- would blame you if you kept your distance under the circumstances.