Dave, you're assuming that the LW's brother hasn't already thought about this and also chosen not to reach out to his son.  As always, we only have one side of a very truncated story. However, the son in this story is a 45 year old man.  There is no indication that the son's decision to eliminate contact with his father was made in haste or without consideration. Further, there's no indication why the LW is so upset/disturbed by the situation. Truthfully, the LW should only be concerned with his/her relationship to the father in question to ensure that particular relationship is to the LW's satisfaction. What happens between a 77-year old father and a 45-year old son is the business of those two people. There is nothing in this letter to indicate that either the father or the son want to repair their relationship or that they would appreciate the LW's interference, which the LW appears to characterize as "help."