Earlier this week, a coroner’s truck parked in front of our condo. When I asked about it, I learned that a resident had passed away. Stella was an elderly woman who stood out with her long, colourful dresses, and dark red hair. Tall, and bent forward, she walked with the help of a cane. Despite her quirky appearance, she pretty much kept to herself. I would say hello whenever we crossed paths; sometimes she would reply with a brief glance, other times, I’d get a quick grumpy hello. She wasn’t the friendliest person.
The next day, we were sent an email from our condo admin: “She passed away a few weeks ago. It’s for this reason that there was a foul smell today on the 4th floor and in a few spots in the building (north emergency stair, main entrance and elevator). We installed several fans to evacuate the odor. These fans will be in place for the next 24 hours.”
This was so sad. In a building of 72 units and over 100 residents, no one knew of this woman’s distress. Now she will be remembered for the “foul smell”.
My neighbour and I decided to pay homage to her as well as 2 other seniors who passed away recently. We placed a small, potted dahlia with a note by the main entrance: “In honour of Stella, Louise and Marthe”.
Yesterday I crossed paths with another neighbour as he was trekking up and down the hallway with the aid of his walker doing his daily exercises. We shared our sadness over news of Stella’s passing. As we were parting, I told him I would be annoying him by knocking on his door every day! And he smiled and we laughed, though still with heavy hearts.
How is it that in a city with a population of over 4 million, with an overabundance of communication devices, a person can die in solitude? We need to take better care of each other. No one should be left alone. Everyone deserves to be cared for and loved.
