Dear Ms Pim
my father was living with me in my flat in Berlin (where I live) for the last eight days.
I took care of him and he was fine, considering the circumstances, his age and his health.
Please let me point out: he knew for sure, that if he would arrive in Berlin by plane, I would carry him from the Berlin airport straight to my home.
So this ("sleep in the street") was - right from the start - an exaggeration.
The real part of the story is, he lost his home, his house in Celle (about 300 km from Berlin) because he split up with his life partner Annette due to a bunch of reasons.
Please beware: my mother (her name was Barbara) and he had a divorce back in 1976. And since that time, my late mother had nothing to do with him.
She married my step-father Harald in 1992 (but they were life partners since 1979).
And I had nothing to do with my father since September 2009.
My mother and I had the car accident in Egypt on the 9th of April 2013 and she died in the international hospital of Luxor during her OP.
I was flown to Germany and had my OPs in an hospital in Berlin.
When I left the hospital in Berlin late April 2013 and he was visiting me in Berlin, it was the first time we met again.
Back to the story: he lost his home in Celle and he did not spend any time in searching for a new flat on his own.
He was actually avoiding this for the last six month.
His flight to Thailand and to you was - in my eyes - an escape from the problems he has in Germany and with himself.
While he was living here with me in Berlin, my "step-sister" Swantje was looking for a flat in an old-peoples home in Celle.
Swantje is the daughter of his former life partner Annette.
We both, we all think, he is a lot better of if he is not living on his own.
Finally and luckily she found a flat in a beautiful old-peoples home in Celle and I brought him there by car on Friday.
I will travel to Celle and visit him again on Monday.
My job is to supply internet to his laptop and computer; so he might be able to write mails again very soon.
Best regards,
Stefan