Editor,
With humility I am writing this letter to express deep sincere regret of the situation involving my son Arnold Woods.
It was a shock for me to learn that he had been setting up residency in the Fine Arts building just a few blocks from where I reside on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Tijeras Avenues northeast. Since the culmination of a streak of adversities for Arnold, I have been waging a search for him, originating in Lakeland, Fla. in March 2008 and ending here on March 8, after hearing KOB television’s 6 o’clock newscast. He has been homeless and on the move for two years.
Since the circumstances surrounding this tragic juncture in Arnold’s life are the result of personal family dynamics, I was not aware that my son was suffering with my inability to come to his rescue morally, spiritually and financially. He has a brother, Allan, who could have given him support as well, although Allan has undergone open-heart surgery in 2007 and 2009, accompanied by strokes, severe blood infections and diabetes. He has been hospitalized in California since May 2009, and a discharge date has not yet been set due to breathing problems, inability to speak without difficulty and a fluctuating blood pressure level.
Please know that I am very sorry that Arnold placed you in a precarious position when you didn’t know who he was or the nature of his physiological and mental health ailments. He was diagnosed with ADD by a UNM doctor in 1994; his paranoia emerged shortly before he left for Saudi Arabia. I am now 75 years of age, living in an assisted living facility; a post-stroke patient with other debilitating diseases. Still, the concern that I have for my son inspires me on in my quest for obtaining effective care for him. Arnold is a 1982 graduate of the University of New Mexico, and has enjoyed obtaining high-level jobs. But his mental defects proliferated before and after his return from Saudi Arabia in 1997. Please be kind enough to steer him toward UNM Mental Health Center on Marble Avenue Northeast. I don’t believe he is a threat to any of you, but we can’t take his condition for granted. I appreciate the fact that he had a safe sanctuary these past months due to the compassion of the UNM Police Department.
Rev. Mary E. Woods
Daily Lobo reader
