That really seems sorta Cormac McCarthy-ish, doesn’t it?
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It’s weird, it makes me want to go to that funeral.
Who wants to go to funerals?
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A man lived on our street for many years. When we were kids he used to bring us boxes of melting ice cream bars. I believe he had a dairy route. His property was always well ,maintained. As he got older he got meaner and became a hoarder.
When we were kids the house was just a small cottage that we stayed at mostly in the summer months. My wife and I later bought the propriety from my parents, built a new house and moved in full time.
By this time he was a very angry mean old man and he rarely came out of his house, it was nothing to not see him for days or weeks. I would always clear his snow and cut his grass around the junk as best I could. Once in a while I would see him peeking out at me.
One day we came home and the fire department was there removing his body through a window because there was so much junk inside. We later found out he had a daughter but we never saw her. Apparently she lost contact with him and called the police to check on him. I later became freinds with his daughter who owned the property until a couple years ago when I bought it. It’s now vacant because the house basically collapsed many years ago.
You couldn’t get near this man even if you tried. I suspect Alzheimer’s and or dementia.
We have other elderly neighbors that everyone looks out for and we will knock on their door if we don’t see them for a day or two. I can’t imagine being so alone that no one would check on you for two years.
Point is, it’s not hard to understand how things like that could happen.
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I wrote in my journal at the beginning of the pandemic that I was afraid of dying from Covid and no one finding me before I ended up as dinner for my two kitties. Just preached about it two Sundays ago.
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Being consumed by my cats wouldn’t bother me, as long as they wait until I’m gone. It’s kind of sweet in a way. Sustaining them even after I can’t care for them. The feline version of The Giving Tree is real damn dark. It probably doesn’t have as happy an ending as the local mayor inviting the whole town to this lady’s funeral and volunteering everyone as her family.
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Yeah, I’d like to think that, if my partner passes first, then the coffee shop owners down the street would check up on me if I don’t turn up after a few days.
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I’m more inclined towards being cat chow now that the pandemic isn’t as scary. It’s dying alone that really frightens me.
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Yes. This lady’s story is very sad in that way. Despite the sweet mayoral coda that hopefully the rest of the town helps back up.
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Thanks for the CanCon.
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Well, it is Lake Como, one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I’d be happy to go there to attend a funeral, or for any other reason.
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My aunt had a bad experience with this in December. One of her friends missed a Zoom meeting on a Monday morning, which was unusual behavior. A few people tried to call her that day, and got no answer. They realized the next day that multiple people had the same outcome (left messages, didn’t get a call back), and reached out to relatives and people who lived nearby with no luck. Finally, the police were called and they found her on the floor.
When I was a kid, we had a very reclusive neighbor who lived at the end of our block. There was a neighborhood civic association, so members would touch base with the family who lived next door about when they’d last seen him getting the mail or signs of activity inside. During my freshman year at college, my father told me that neighbor had passed away. Based on his condition when they found him, he’d been dead at least a week before anyone noticed.
I’m gonna look up one of those daily wellness check services, because I don’t talk to family and friends every day. With voicemail, emails, texts, etc. there can be a long delay between occasions when we communicate in real time.
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We all die alone. Even if you’re surrounded by family, that’s generally a solo trip.
I’d be more concerned about not dying alone. I don’t want my family coming with me (and I don’t want to ever have reason enough to be dying in a fashion that I’m taking someone with me).
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Yes, we all die alone!
I want to have my loved ones with me when I transition - I DON’T want to go in an old folks home with no one around who cares about me. THAT’S what I mean about not dying alone!
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Something similar happened to us in 2020. There was a friend we were talking to daily on a group chat who didn’t get on for a couple of days and had us immediately worried. When he didn’t log on for our video chat D and D game without notice we panicked. He had a long history of suicidal ideation so we were hoping at first he was just sick or had non fatally been hit by a car or something.
My partner spent days on the phone with the front desk worker of the building and the cops before he could talk them into going in to check. It was unfortunately what we expected and there was a letter and a table full of mementos labeled to be given to different friends. My partner was the one who had to call his Mom, and start some of the friend calls.
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I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s even more difficult when there are barriers involved in getting assistance at a time like that.
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“…a tree had fallen in her garden as a result of overgrown vegetation” ???
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don’t know the will requirements for italians but here if you don’t make a will your valued belongings go to the .govt
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Carol Morley film about a woman found three years after she died in her flat. Very sad.
Very, very sad.
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Obligatory Sedaris poem inspired from his time working in a morgue and studying a book of odd deaths):
Behold the recluse looking pensive!
Mildew though is quite extensive
On his head both aft and fore.
He maybe shoulda got out more.
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