Dear Dad

When you come down to Dunedin I hope you can help me sort out some financial matters as well as helping me with my appeal to be discharged from hospital. I owe my landlady quite a lot of money so I was wondering if we could pay her a visit and pay all that is due (about $575 — about 2 weeks' rent and rent to cover the 3 week notice period). I have some other debts but I think I can manage to pay them fairly easily. Index of articles...

Thanks, Tessa



Tessa sent me the above letter on January 20, 1996, about 10 days before I went down to Dunedin and about two weeks before the hearing of the Family Court that effectively discharged her into my care. Since she talks about paying a visit to her former landlady, the letter indicates that she is already being allowed to leave the hospital. At first, she was taken out under escort. Later, when the staff were reasonably sure she would not abscond, she was allowed to go out alone. As she was still receiving the unemployment benefit, she was able to go shopping for clothes and to take part in activities at a local gym. Eventually, during her last week in Dunedin, the hospital turned into little more than a free hotel for her. When I arrived in the morning, she would sign herself out; and when I returned with her in the late afternoon or early evening, she would sign herself back in. We had a great time, and spent rather too much money on sightseeing and dining in expensive restaurants. In short, it was a week in which we rediscovered each other.