intervention and brotherly love

There is a program on A&E called "Intervention". Have you seen it? It documents people with various addictions and their loved ones' intervention to try and convince them to enter rehab. I've always thought the show was interesting to watch, but after you have seen a few interventions, I feel like you've seen them all.

Last month I blogged about Paul's addiction. I have decided to investigate the possibility of featuring him on that show. His addiction to Nutty Buddies only seems worse, and in fact, he seems to be moving on to "harder stuff". For instance, when I told him I was going to the grocery store, he asked me to buy some Nutty Buddies, but he added, "And get the big ones, the ones with the dome tops." He was referring to the Drumsticks, which are considerably larger than regular Nutty Buddies.

On Tuesday, Paul and Anderson had to go to Anderson's basketball banquet at 7 until 8:30 pm. The church where the banquet was held is only 6 miles away from here, so it is a ten minute drive at the most. It was 9:30 before he and Anderson returned home--on a school night, with Anderson having some homework he still needed to complete. Neither mentioned to me the reason for their tardiness, only Paul did say that his favorite part of the banquet was when it was over because it lasted way too long. The next day, I "just so happened" to speak with Kim, who is our manager at the mini-storage. She "just so happened" to talk with Jimmy (a.k.a. Pa Paw), who resides at the mini-storage's apartment, and he mentioned that Paul called him fairly late Tuesday night. I think the conversation went something like this:

Jimmy: Hello.
Paul: Hey Pa Paw. Are you asleep?
Jimmy: No. I'm awake.
Paul: Are there any more Nutty Buddies in the freezer. (sidenote--Paul should have known there were because he sent Jimmy to the store to buy TWO boxes just days before)
Jimmy: Yeah, there are some here.
Paul: Okay, Anderson and I are coming by to get some.

Now that I think about it, my sister, Anna, mentioned to me that Anderson and Paul didn't seem like they were in very good moods when they rode together to the banquet that night. I realize now that they were probably experiencing withdrawal symptoms and needed a fix. Regardless, it was the discovery of this "NB Run" Tuesday night that solidifed my decision to schedule an intervention. I am planning on doing this two weeks from this Friday, so friends and family--if you can join me, let me know. It is time we help Paul get the help he so desperately needs. We must act now--he has introduced this substance to our oldest son, and I don't want Anderson following this same path of addiction.

On an entirely different note, as I type, Bennett is standing on the back of one of the sofas in the playroom, with the wood blinds draped across his back, and he is yelling about as loud as he can, "BUBBBAAAAA! BUBBBBAAAA!" He is calling for Anderson, whom he heard exit the house through the garage underneath us and begin bouncing a basketball, heading for the goal by the driveway. As soon as he heard this commotion below, he scaled the sofa and began knocking on the window, trying his hardest to get his brother's (Bubba's) attention. He has succeeded, and is smiling at his brother below, who has paused his dribbling and shooting and is smiling right back. Brotherly love at its finest, I'd say. Now Bennett is saying, "boobie, boobie". As I peer out the window once again I see that Anderson has taken his shirt off. Yes, this isn't the only private body part Bennett now knows how to say...