On page 10 of A Murder is Announced, we read "And die on the same day and be buried in the same grave. That would be lovely." Bunch, a happy vicar's wife said this to her husband.
In real life, a fair number of people seem to take their lives for granted. My mother's neighbor, Mrs Kok, used to say that she planned to live in her present house with her husband in old age, as she expected her children to move out one by one. My mother, the realist, chose to point out to her that one day one of the pair would most likely die before the other. Then the prospect of living alone in a big house presented itself to Mrs Kok. She did not relish the idea of being all alone since women usually outlive men if they are about the same age. Since then, she no longer said that she would urge each child to move out.
My cousin lives in a small single story house. A few houses away, an old man lived alone. He seldom talked to anyone and there were few visitors. Since he did sometimes leave his house to be away for a week or two, no one was alarmed that he was not seen for a few days. The complacency lasted four days, when foul smell that came from his house caused neighbors to call him and then later the police. He was found dead seated in front of a TV that was tuned on world news.
No comments:
Post a Comment