ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, WE HOPE

Remember Alex, the guy I didn’t recognise? Well I recognised him last time he came, with two others, to fit a new carpet in the bedroom. That’s it now, no more workmen (not even the handsome Alex) and no more jobs to be done – unless, of course, things break down. I can do with saving the pennies to spend on other things, like food!

Friend Judy and I sat down recently and worked out our future. Not together, of course, she lives in one house and I live in another, miles apart from each other. It was a necessary chat, she being 85 and me only 83. Nevertheless, we both face similar futures. We both live alone, both in bungalows, both being independent people, and both needing to think about our future. While we’re mentally active and can still drive it’s probably a good time to get morbid and think or plan ahead. But what is ahead? Worry? Frustration?

As already stated, Judy lives alone and like me she worries about her future. We discussed this at length recently, both of us worrying about what would happen if something awful happened and we (singly) couldn’t get help.

Both of us have remotely placed family members, too far away to be of any help

in an emergency. We both have neighbours but not the sort who pop in to see if we’re okay. We have alarm buttons on our persons which can be pressed in an emergency and help will come running, but what if we simply passed out before we could press the button. We could be lying in our respective houses for days (heaven forbid) without anyone knowing.

With all this in mind, and after discussing it with Judy, I decided to approach my neighbours with an idea. It was Alex who gave me the idea and I shall probably be grateful to him for evermore, even if I do forget what he looks like!

Last evening, I approached the neighbours, two ladies who are sisters, and put an idea to them, explaining all of the above. The question I put to them was ‘how about if I sent a text by phone, a one word message that just said ‘okay’ or ‘hello’ … a one word message that needed no reply, just sent to assure them that all was well. If they didn’t get such a message on another day they should come running to check that all was either well or not well.

I sent an email to Judy to tell her the plan was accepted with my neighbours and her response was ‘you are very brave’. I hope that doesn’t mean she will go on worrying without enlisting the help of her neighbour.