Latest update:
I finally visited my friend and her family in Taoyuan about a month ago with my aunt. Apart from her, everyone - her husband, dad and younger girl (her eldest girl is away in college) seemed cheerful and fine.
Her immediate concern is that her husband has put up the condo for sale, and whether he would buy a smaller unit in another city where her eldest girl is now, as promised OR run away with the money after sale. Besides, he wants to change his car [still looks new (the dusty exterior needs a wash) when both of them drove us to our Taipeh’s loft unit, which he helped us to book]! He only drives when he comes back from Shenzhen every 3 months or so. She stopped driving after a bad accident two years ago.
My curiosity:
Why is there a baby seat in the car when the younger girl is 8 years old (who didn’t come along with us to Taipeh)?
Stark Reality:
Beautifully landscaped high-end condos, BUT it’s beyond their budget from the interiors. They do not synced. Buying is one thing, lifestyle is another.
Medical Treatment:
She stops going because it’s a waste of money. (She’s cash-strapped, and he doesn’t give money on time.)
My 72yr old aunt’s (had been a nurse in Malaysia’s psychiatric wards) observation:
(after talking to her in the garden while I was away)
She’s not crazy because she talked sense after waking up to her reality. She’s more like a person being charmed, and it’s effect is wearing off. My aunt’s advice to her is to go for counselling - she needs to talk to someone.
Post-trip:
She called, worrying that something bad had happened to me.
Few days later on Skype, she was really emotionally down saying that her eldest girl was dead. ‘Who told you? Did you see her dead body?’ went unanswered. She was too distraught to continue.
Texts on her Skype went unanswered. She does not call. Probably, she’s packing and on the move. Hope is for the best.
Yes, I can only pray for her and her family, and be there when she is ready to talk. I only hope that her husband is what I see of him, be there for her and nothing else matters.