One of my cousins is working on a project that essentially has him working here in D/FW 4 days a week while his wife & kids are still living in Houston. He travels home every Friday, coming back here on Sunday nights. The project is expected to last some ways into 2025.
SMDH.
His parents live here.* His Mom will not let anyone into her house these days, and he speculates she may have become a hoarder. No evidence beyond the secrecy, though.
So he’s staying at his Dad’s place for the duration of the project. But apparently, there’s no food in the house. Dad will pick up 3 pieces of fried chicken (and some sides) and eat that for 2 dinners.
So his beloved oldest son essentially has to fend for himself.
We hadn’t seen him in ages, so we invited him over for dinner at a gooooood local burger joint & socializing, which is when he dropped all this (& more) on us. At the end of the evening, I sent him out the door with a large ziplock of a huge batch of Hungarian-esque beef & mushroom soup I made and a similarly full bag of cooked cavatappi pasta to eat it over.
(My petty ass half-hopes he doesn’t share with his pops, but that’s unlikely.)
I also told him any holiday he can’t get home for or any time he wants to have a meal & company to give us a call.
* Both are medical professionals, are doing well financially, and are true & practicing nutjobs. And I say that with love for his Mom.