An elderly man in Ottawa spent the ENTIRE WINTER snowed into his house, living off whatever food he had on hand. A concerned neighbour (finally!) called the police, who found an entire winter's worth of snow piled high in the driveway (& Ottawa got a LOT of snow this winter!), blocking access in & out of the house. They removed the snow, brought the man some groceries and arranged for further support going forward.
All I could think, reading it, was, "That could be me in 20-25 years." Well, maybe not if I keep living in a condo (snow removal is not an issue, thankfully!) ;) ...and that was one reason why we moved here -- to eliminate chores such as snow shovelling and be closer to family as we age. Plus, while I can be rather stubborn at times and I like my independence, I like to think I would call someone for help if I needed it. (Although I know that not all elderly people recognize when they need help, or know where to call for it.)
Nevertheless, I think this is many childless women's secret fear -- that we'll wind up living alone, helpless & forgotten. :( Please, everyone, check in on your neighbours now & then, especially if you know they are elderly &/or living alone or otherwise vulnerable!
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.
Yes, this is a good reminder for us all. Whilst we don't have the snow issue, I still have a similar fear. Making connections with neighbours is important - in a house, or a condo. (And I'm not good enough at that either.)
ReplyDeleteCognitive decline in old age means losing our reasoning and decision-making abilities, and so it is easy to forget when to ask for help. My mother went through several days of crawling in her little house with a sore back. She had a medical alarm around her neck, and a telephone within reach to call my sister who lived only about 20 minutes away. She didn't think to do it. (She was also very VERY stoic about pain etc.)
Oh dear, that image of your mother crawling around makes me so sad. :(
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI'm a long time reader. I don't leave comments that often, even though love your blog.
The thing that jumped out at me in this post is that the senior citizen was a MAN. Men have a much harder time building community than women do.
I read about this recently in the book "Them" by Ben Sasse. He is Nebraska senator who is a republican never-Trumper. So he's an independent thinker, which I can respect :) It was a good book that is about the theme of building community, worth a read.
~Molly
Hi Molly! Thanks for de-lurking and thanks for the book recommendation! :) I think you're right about men being more reluctant to reach out than women.
Deletehello,
ReplyDeletei found this post via #microblogmondays and it has hit so close to home. I am not elderly but i have one very close friend who is older and does not have any biological children, i know that what you wrote about is one of her concerns. Thanks for reminding us to check on our elderly friends and neighbors.
Thank YOU, and thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI hear you about the elderly gentleman! I recently stopped to check on a senior couple who had moved from next door to me to across the street - they needed to live in a bungalow that's all one level because of poor health and mobility issues for the Mr. Turns out they had moved in and had no heating and a heap of work being done on the property, in winter (!) so I loaned them my electric heater and asked them if they'd like my spare keys so they had somewhere warm to sit, make a cup of tea, relax and watch TV whilst we were out at work... they were so, so grateful for the heater...
ReplyDeleteThey have grown up children too, but seem to spend all their time and energy assisting the daughter who lives the closest with her laundry, ironing and caring for her children and dog (the other daughter lives at the other end of the country). I felt sad that their daughter didn't think her elderly parents might be in need of a warm place to stay during the day whilst she was out at work - maybe they just didn't want to bother her... :-(