>> for a while to write a scholarly papers on civil war artifacts but during this period trouble develops on the home front as his wife starts to show signs of bipolar disorder. >> there were weeks she could not get out of bed. >> he was working full time and doing laundry. jamie: your dad had to much to handle at home did collecting become an escape? >> it was his collection. >> keeps a receipt for just about everything for a few hundred dollars he buys of freer -- are rare item made for the confederate army. he is able to turn the serial numbers into the stories behind them. >> was like a good mystery novel he had to know the