General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Older Americans cope with shock and stress as vaccine effort overlooks them [View all]llmart
(15,539 posts)I actually agree with you about people being more realistic in their approach to aging, but I also know that just because I tend to be a realist doesn't mean everyone is capable of taking that first major step. I live in a community where most of us are seniors. In the eight years I've lived here I've seen many instances of people who just plain stayed too long in their homes. On the one hand, I get irritated when I see their yards are not kept up to snuff bringing down the home values of everyone else. In fact, I bought my house from a couple who were 88 and 91 and they finally were convinced to move into assisted living when they kept falling or driving their car into a closed garage door - stories I've heard from many of the neighbors when I moved in. The amount of stuff they had crammed into the basement was incredible. They kept asking me if they could rent from me one more month (I gave them two to start with) because they just could not seem to tackle getting rid of anything. They had two grown children in the area who finally just pitched it all when I told them I could not let them rent for one more month.
My parents were both dead by the time I was 22, so they never really got the chance to age. Neither one made it to 61. I have a very hard time relating to my cohorts who have either already gone through this or going through it now with their parents, and I just have no idea what my parents would have been like.
You have a lot on your plate and now I can understand why you may have come off as being unempathetic.