‘Independence’ is overvalued
Published 3:32 pm Tuesday, May 25, 2010
On Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reported on an elderly couple who were rescued after being buried by an avalanche of trash that filled their home.
Thelma Gaston, 75, had injuries resembling rat bites, a fire official said. She and Jesse Gaston, 76, were hospitalized in critical condition.
Thelma Gaston may have fallen through the debris and became trapped. When her husband tried to come to her aid, he apparently became trapped as well, the Tribune reported.
The sad, sensational facts of the story — hoarders buried alive by their garbage — will overshadow the more common underlying problem: isolated senior citizens, most often singles, but also couples like the Gastons, living alone and suffering for it, under our dearly held belief in “independence.”
Articles abound these days about baby boomers busy caring for their children, as well as their aging parents. Far fewer articles can be found about seniors who don’t have children, or extended family, to help them. Not only are these people isolated, we don’t know they exist until their house of garbage implodes or they die alone and someone reports a funny smell to authorities.
Kenneth W. Wachter, chair of the Department of Demography at the University of California at Berkeley, estimates “the number of Americans between the ages of 70 and 85, without a living spouse, without any biological or stepchildren, and without living siblings or half-siblings, will total more than 2 million people by the year 2030,” Lonnette Harrell reported at AssociatedContent.com.
A neighbor called for a welfare check on the Gastons Monday, the newspaper reported, after she hadn’t seen the man mowing his lawn for some time and saw that his truck was accumulating parking tickets.
Over the last few weeks, she said, various people came to their door and, when their knocking went unanswered, frequently came to her to ask if she knew anything.
None of those visitors called authorities, even though the garbage that filled the home also filled the porch, much of the yard and garage.
This was not a situation that developed overnight.
Siblings of both Gastons told the newspaper that their recent phone calls to the couple went unanswered. But, like the visitors, they did not call authorities.
In addition to independence, Americans also value “minding their own business” and/or “not getting involved.”
But it’s imperative that we view isolated senior citizens as a vulnerable population — like how we’re all supposed to look out for the welfare of children — not out of meddling or condescension, but concern. Until their rescue, the Gastons were considered to be “living independently.”
