ForAlice,itmusthavefeltasifshehadcrossedintoan
alienlandthatshewouldneverbeallowedtoleave.The
borderguardswere friendlyandcheerfulenough.They
promisedher anice place tolive whereshe’d bewell
takencareof.Butshedidn’treallywantanyonetotake
careofher;shejustwantedtolivealifeofherown.And
thosecheerfulborderguardshadtakenherkeysandher
passport. With her home went her control.
PeoplesawHarry Trumanasa hero. Therewasnever
going to be a Longwood Housefor Harry Truman of
Spirit Lake, and Alice Hobson of Arlington, Virginia,
didn’t want there to be one for her either.
HOWDIDWEwindupinaworldwheretheonlychoices
fortheveryoldseemtobeeithergoingdownwiththe
volcano or yielding all control over our lives? To
understandwhathappened,youhavetotracethestoryof
howwereplacedthepoorhousewiththekindsofplaces
wehavetoday—anditturnsoutto beamedicalstory.
Ouroldagehomesdidn’tdevelopoutofadesiretogive
the frail elderly better lives than they’d had in those
dismal places. We didn’t look around and say to
ourselves,“Youknow,there’sthisphaseofpeople’slives
in which theycan’t really copeon their own,and we
oughttofindawaytomakeitmanageable.”No,instead
wesaid, “Thislookslikea medicalproblem.Let’sput
thesepeopleinthehospital.Maybethedoctorscanfigure
something out.” The modern nursing home developed
from there, more or less by accident.
Inthemiddlepartofthetwentiethcentury,medicinewas
undergoinga rapidand historic transformation.Before
thattime,ifyoufellseriouslyill,doctorsusuallytended