narcotic effects

last night we journeyed downtown to spend some time with some people who call the streets their home.  we saw some friends we'd been worried about and were able to talk about health, food, animals...all kinds of stuff.  mandy even had a chance to talk to someone whom she called an angel...i'll let her tell that story, it's a great one!

there is a couple that we had been spending time with and about 2.5 weeks ago she called us to let us know he had been kicked out for their $200/month slum for usin/sellin crack again...she was heartbroken.  i walked her home last night because over the last week she's seen him a few times and a civil conversation turns to yelling quickly, and well...between the drugs and other issues he has...she was nervous...so we walked the 7 blocks and she held my arm the whole way.  we talked and she told me many interesting facts about breeding ferrets, rabbits, and cats...i'm amazed at what she knew...

once i returned to the gathering he had shown up and already spoken with mandy, so i quickly tried to find him and see how he was doing...now he had been a little overweight before, but the drugs had already taken their toll and he had slimmed down considerably...not a diet i recommend...once we started talking it was as if the friend i had made had disappeared inside this body that vaguely reminded me of him.  i asked him how he was doing and he told me stories of meeting with our founding fathers this coming monday so they could fix the national deficit...he told me about all the friends he had looking out for him and immediately followed it with how lonely he was...as the stories continued, it was clear that the drugs and his not taking his other medication had resulted in an alternate reality that had been created in his head and he didn't know what was what...

...it took everything in me not to grab him and tell him to snap out of it...i'm heartbroken...how do i help? how do i love properly?  what can I even do? Lord God I pray for your grace and your help...please, i beg...