I Am Getting Old
I just heard about a long time friend of 55 years. And the news is not good.
The last time we spoke was 2 months ago. He said he was getting frail and had hired a caretaker. He sounded OK over the phone, though. We are both 74 years old. We lived through the 60s together and had many adventures.
Now when I tried to call him, both his landline and cell were disconnected. I phoned a younger mutual close friend in his town (he is in Portland, OR and I'm in southern California) and she drove over to his house. His caretaker, a young woman, said he was gone, that his sister (who lives in southern California) had come for him and whisked him away to be put in a memory care facility. The caretaker said she had to leave town for a few days due to an emergency in her family and, when she returned to where she lived in my long time friend's house, he was no longer there and the guys who rented rooms in his house said my old friend had been acting irrationally and his sister came up from southern California, took charge of him and took him away.
No one seems to know where he is. One close friend said he thought my long time friend was still in Portland somewhere and had not yet gone to southern California with his sister. So it's not really clear where my friend is or where he has gone. And since his sister has never approved of him or his friends, and his family has never liked me, I fear I will not be told anything.
If he is being placed in a memory care facility in southern California, he would be near me and I could arrange to visit if I knew where he was. I think when old folks lose their memories, doctors and caretakers think it's good for them to see people they've known for a long time, and in general good just to have visitors. I am hoping his sister will not shut me out of this. This man has been a very lively social person for his whole life.
The last time we spoke was 2 months ago. He said he was getting frail and had hired a caretaker. He sounded OK over the phone, though. We are both 74 years old. We lived through the 60s together and had many adventures.
Now when I tried to call him, both his landline and cell were disconnected. I phoned a younger mutual close friend in his town (he is in Portland, OR and I'm in southern California) and she drove over to his house. His caretaker, a young woman, said he was gone, that his sister (who lives in southern California) had come for him and whisked him away to be put in a memory care facility. The caretaker said she had to leave town for a few days due to an emergency in her family and, when she returned to where she lived in my long time friend's house, he was no longer there and the guys who rented rooms in his house said my old friend had been acting irrationally and his sister came up from southern California, took charge of him and took him away.
No one seems to know where he is. One close friend said he thought my long time friend was still in Portland somewhere and had not yet gone to southern California with his sister. So it's not really clear where my friend is or where he has gone. And since his sister has never approved of him or his friends, and his family has never liked me, I fear I will not be told anything.
If he is being placed in a memory care facility in southern California, he would be near me and I could arrange to visit if I knew where he was. I think when old folks lose their memories, doctors and caretakers think it's good for them to see people they've known for a long time, and in general good just to have visitors. I am hoping his sister will not shut me out of this. This man has been a very lively social person for his whole life.
70-79, F
