This $100,000 check was Don’s loan to the Costa Rican mafia.

 

Don’s first day back from Costa Rica, he wakes up and while he’s brushing his teeth he calmly tells me that he is going to tear down the Caracal pens to prove that he was in control. He was angry that I had the trash hauled off and had been mad that I had replaced the ant infested den boxes in the Caracals’ pen before he left, so he said in retaliation that he was going to tear down the cages.  I tried to reason with him that there was no where for the Caracals to go and to tear down their pen would be counter productive.

 

After a while I realized that he could not be reasoned with and told him that his actions have been so bizarre that I would have him “Baker Acted” if he did not go of his own accord to be tested.  He said “If you do that, you will live only long enough to regret it!”  He said he would poison ALL of the cats with antifreeze.  I asked why he would inflict such a painful death on an innocent animal and he said it would be worth it to him, just to see me suffer.  I told him to get off the property, and not come back.  I told him that if he did not go, I would have him arrested.  I told him that he could not come back until he had been tested for Alzheimer’s disease and if it proved that he was sane, and just evil, then he could have his divorce, but if the tests concluded that he was ill, then I would take care of him until he died.

 

Don asked what it was about him that made me think he was sick.  He said he was sincere, so I sat down with him and showed him all of the symptoms and pointed out his similarities.  He finally agreed to go be tested and I called all day, but no one ever returned my call about having him evaluated.   The next day, he said he had Anne McQueen check with our insurance carrier and she had found a doctor for him to go to.  He said he wanted to go to the doctor she found first and if that doctor said there was nothing wrong with him, then he would agree to go to the doctor I had been referred to by the Tampa Bay Alzheimer’s Chapter.  I asked if the doctor that Anne McQueen had chosen was a specialist and Don said that he was a “head doctor” but he didn’t know who or where or when his appointment was.

 

Note from the future:  5/24/2020 Howie found a Blue Cross Blue Shield receipt for Don’s MRI dated 6/23/1997 and some blood tests that had been run on 6/20/1997 which was the day of his doctor’s appointments for a psychiatric evaluation.  On 6/3/2020 I found the prescription from the doctor for Don to get an MRI at St. Joseph’s Hospital and on both the prescription slip and the patient worksheet he lists the diagnosis at Bipolar Disorder and Altered mental status.  All these years later, when I had not been able to find these documents, I thought that maybe I had turned over the originals to the police.  Turns out I must have given them only copies.  I also found where St. Joseph’s several years later returned part of the money paid saying they had over charged us. 

 

Through a chain of events I discover that the day of those doctor visits and blood tests were the day I thought Don had filed for a restraining order when I first heard about it on 9/9/1997.  I don’t think I ever had a copy of the order.  It had just been sprung on me by Anne McQueen who was using it to try and have herself appointed conservator of our business, rather than me.  Today, when Howie found the receipt, I searched my diary and found that I thought 6/20/1997 was the date of the restraining order, but when I searched online it was dated 6/12/1997 and recorded on 6/16/1997.  I’m still searching for why I was told or thought it was the 20th, but for now, here are the copies.   

 

Regardless of my misunderstanding of the date, June 12, 1997 is the day that Don filled out the restraining order and it makes sense, given what was transpiring on this same day according to my diary entry.