I have been struggling for years with a friend of mine from the old neighborhood. Our moms were high school friends, so he and I grew up together.

We were always different from each other, but we were always friends because we grew up in the same small town (238 people) together.

The trajectories of our lives really went differently after high school though.

During high school is was Mr. Popular, great athlete, a hit with the ladies. I was quiet, artistic, and a loner. Somehow we found common ground outside of high school though.

Once we graduated he kept partying -- drinking every night and smoking, things that did not appeal to me. He went to work at dead-end jobs, mostly. I eventually went to college and grad school. He became a corrections officer. I became a researcher. He became a right-wing gun nut. I became a bookish anarchist. He became a racist. I went on to be more and more open-minded in that regard.

Anyway... in the past year or so his life has largely collapsed. His marriage is horribly on the rocks, his alcoholism is killing him. He is morbidly obese, suffers many ongoing maladies like diabetes, knee problems, memory problems, delusions, confabulation (associated with long term alcoholism). He'd taken to calling me at strange hours and going on anti-govt rants or racist tirades. This offended me deeply for two primary reasons: because I think racism is deplorable... and my gf happens to be black.

His gun play -- shooting in town while drunk and such were just frightening.

He also had a long history of trouble at work. The Corrections Officers union had to bail him out. But eventually his boss said: "Quit or be fired." His union could no longer help him because he had simply violated the contract. So he lost his job and had not been able to find another one since the spring. He also had a recent run-in with the law regarding a firearm. Charges were dropped but the lawyer cost his elderly father a pretty penny from his small 401k.

Yesterday, after a leg injury that progressed into an acute infection my friend apparent had two grand mal seizures (no history of seizing). He had been drinking, taking vicotin, and two kind of antibiotics (both intravenously administered and in pills). He may have also been drinking those "energy drinks" with both caffeine and alcohol in them. Those were his drug of choice.

As a result of the seizures he was taken away in an ambulance. The blood work at the ER showed his liver was shutting down. They flew him out to a major hospital in a big city where they were going to have specialists deal with his liver problem (if possible), his withdrawals, and the constellation of health problems he is having.

Part of me wants to reach out to this friend, maybe for old time's sake. Maybe for... I dunno why.

Another part of me wants to leave him be simply because he is so toxic and offensive and immature.

Not sure what to do...

Thoughts?