85 year old woman found dead

This lady was found dead in her flat after 5 years. Nobody missed her, nobody cared. Whatever happened to community? There's an elderly lady who lives near me and we often stop for a chat as we walk our dogs. A few months ago I was going to work and met her at the end of our road. This was 1.30pm, and she was so pleased to see me. She'd had a phone call that morning to say she was a great-grandmother, and I was the first person she'd seen to tell the good news. How sad is that?

:( Oh how sad (about the lady who died, not your neighbour thinking of you first), I can see how it can happen though. People rush from place to place and then lock their door. And since women are expected to be out at work too, and are look on as failures if they decide to be a SAHM and not work, there's no one home during the day to keep the community spirit going.

I can't decide about this. Yes, it's dreadfully sad that nobody noticed this lady was missing. But from what I read, she had no family at all and no close friends through choice. She was friendly enough, exchanging a word with her neighbours when she saw them, but she kept them at arm's length. She was very independent and probably would have resented someone checking up on her. It's hard, but what can you do if older people really don't want to be kept tabs on?

Yeah I understand that some people like to be insular. But 5 years and nobody knows you've died? My worst nightmare would be to end up in a care home, but this comes a close second.

Yes I agree Lulu. It's my nightmare too.