A while back Ben InTexas posed a hypothetical question “what if one of us bloggers died in our home and no one knew.” Since he is a daily blogger with updates throughout the day…well we would certainly take note that something was out of place if he did not do his daily post. http://benntexas.blogspot.com/ But how about those people who do not go online or who for that matter do not even have friends or relatives living close by? Worst yet if they happen to be elderly and living by themselves and whose families do not even care about their well-being?
This is a topic that perhaps very few of us care to discuss but one that perhaps deserves our attention. I was going to post about this two weeks ago when the death of an elderly gentlemen touched me. He lived alone and apparently did not have family. The only reason they found him was because the mailman reported that there was a foul odor emitting from the residence. When the police entered his home they found his body in an advance state of decomposition. They performed an autopsy and ruled he died from natural causes.
I was reading the free online page of the Del Rio News Herald and I was literally shocked to find that three more have died in the same fashion. Del Rio is not a very big town. We have just shy of 50,000 residents and in the past two weeks we have had four deaths of senior citizens in their residences. The common factor is that they all lived alone. http://delrionewsherald.com/news/article_fceb2238-2b31-11e1-8d4f-0019bb2963f4.html
Do you keep in touch with your elderly relatives or neighbors? If you live alone whether you are elderly or not, is there a person you are in contact with that would take note if they did not hear from you? Do you have a trusted friend that has a key to your house and that could get access to your home just in case? Do your friends have a way of contacting your family in case you became ill or had to be hospitalized?
Food for thought….
On a much happier note, it turned out to be a beautiful day. Since there is rain and a cold front in the forecast decided to take advantage while I could and did two loads of laundry.
