investigatefurther.Shestilldidn’twanttotellthefamily
aboutwhathadhappened.Butsheknewthiswastrouble
and after a while finally told my father-in-law, Jim.
He spoke to the neighbors who’d reported the crime.
Theymentionedthattheyhad becomeworried forher.
Shenolongerseemedsafelivingonherown.Therewas
thisincidentandtheImpalainthebushes.Therewasalso
whattheyobservedofhowdifficultmanagingmattersas
ordinary as getting her trash to the curb had become.
Thepolicecaughtthescamartistsandarrestedthemfor
grandlarceny.Themenwereconvictedandsentencedto
prison,whichshouldhavebeensatisfyingforAlice.But
instead the whole process kept the events, and the
reminders of her growing vulnerability, alive and
lingeringwhenshewouldhavedearlylovedtohaveset
them behind her.
Soonafterthescammerswerecaught,Jimsuggestedthat
heandAlicegotogethertolookatretirementhomes.It
wasjusttoseewhattheywerelike,hesaid.Buttheyboth
knew where this was going.
DECLINEREMAINSOURfate;deathwillsomedaycome.
Butuntilthatlastbackupsysteminsideeachofusfails,
medicalcarecaninfluencewhetherthepathissteepand
precipitateormoregradual,allowinglongerpreservation
oftheabilitiesthatmattermostinyourlife.Mostofusin
medicinedon’tthinkaboutthis.We’regoodataddressing
specific, individualproblems:coloncancer, high blood
pressure,arthriticknees.Giveusadisease,andwecando
somethingaboutit.Butgiveusanelderlywomanwith
high blood pressure, arthritic knees, and various other