Apparently he has finally entered into an alcoholic treatment program. Since his divorce, he has steadily gone downhill, abusing alcohol, cocaine and who knows what else.

His stepson, whom my mother still treats as a nephew even though Chris divorced from his mother, is graduating this year. Mother had asked Chris was J's address was, and got the "what would you want that for" response. When she indicated that she wanted to send him a card to celebrate graduation, he responds, "If you feel that's what you need to do"

Which precipitated the whole tirade of what exactly he meant about that and what his big problem was.

Yet again he descends to his blaming of others for his own issues. Blaming J for standing up to him and telling him that his behaviour (drinking) scared him and didn't make him feel safe to be around him. Now Chris is all pissed off at him for saying it to him and wants to distance himself from him and act like its his problem, not his own.

Naturally mother proceeds to throw reality in his face, which Chris doesn't like. How he IS a drunk and how is it an 18 year old's fault to question or state what they are concerned about.

Chris flies into his nonsensical tirades about how his past has messed everything up. How he has never had anyone tell him he's an alcoholic until mother did. How he's tired of women always taking advantage of him (he regularly refers to them as b****** and worse). Piling on multiple disparaging comments concerning homosexuals as well (never mind that two of his siblings are homosexuals).

I listened to pieces of the conversation, listening to my mother try to break through to her own brother that HE controls how he acts, not his past. How HE chose to make the decisions he did, and even CURRENTLY does. And all he can do is blame everyone else and blow up.

After mother get's so incensed she starts crying, she finally ends the call (he questioned her decisions concerning distancing herself from grandfather to keep from getting more abuse). He calls back an hour or two later asking if she is okay now and if he threw her over the edge. He had apparantly talked to Nick about their conversation and had time to stew.

Some people are so thick it takes a shovel to WHACK things into their head.