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Original poster

This sort of thing breaks my heart

12 replies

Notalone · 01/11/2008 19:14

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7702120.stm

No comment really, but this really upsets me. Especially when it is people who fought / did their bit in the war. I am a mature student studying to be an Occupational Therapist and this is the area I am determined to work / make a difference in. It is just so .

OP posts:
izyboy · 01/11/2008 19:21

Yes that is a very sad piece. By the way, if you dont mind me asking (and digressing a bit), are you enjoying your OT course? I was thinking of returning to do a fast track OT degree. Any jobs in it in our present climate?

LadyLauraStandish · 01/11/2008 19:24

I agree, it's so sad.

Original poster
Notalone · 01/11/2008 19:26

I just want to get all of them in my (very small lol) house, make em a cup of tea and have a good old chinwag. Was going to be a befriending volunteer but don't drive and with my degree / Ds just don't have a spare minute in the day.

I love my OT course izyboy - its the best thing I have done in years. Jobswise I hope there are some! I looked on NHS careers the other day and there were 700+ jobs nationwide and there are posters around my campus requesting those graduating this year to work in Essex - starting salary £23k (pay award pending) and a relocation allowance of £2k. If you don't mind me asking where in the country are you?

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expatinscotland · 01/11/2008 19:27

it's sad, but these things happen.

there have been many threads on here from children of ageing parents who've had to move a distance from them for work, but the ageing parents refuse to move closer to their kids so the kids can look after them, and it's not exactly feasible for the working adult who has to pay bills to give up their job.

there are also sadly a number of threads on here from posters who had very dysfunctional parents who are now entering old age and they don't, for good reasons, maintain much contact with their parents.

also, as pointed out, people live longer on average than they ever used to.

CharCharBaGOOOOOOORE · 01/11/2008 19:30

That's It may be part of the way the world is now, but it's sad that it is. It scares me because that might be me one day.

izyboy · 01/11/2008 19:32

Hi Notalone thanks for replying- I am in Cardiff - I have a feeling that some of the Trusts in my surrounding areas are not replacing staff at the moment. Maybe if someone else know differently they could say yay or nay. I will probably be looking to do it in a couple of years so these things change.

It's great you are so positive - alot of OT's I've met seem to really like their careers!

Original poster
Notalone · 01/11/2008 19:32

Of course expat - I have dysfunctional parents myself and rarely, if ever see them. They are destined for a lonely old age purely down to their own actions. It is the ones who have been forgotten that upset me. The ones whos friends have passed away already and don't have family near for reasons that are not of their making. When someone dies of old age etc and no-one finds them for weeks, I think it is horrendous.

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FiveGoMadInDorset · 01/11/2008 19:34

Sadly it doesn't just happen to old people, my friends cousin died at age 35 and was not discovered for 2 weeks.

expatinscotland · 01/11/2008 19:36

that's why i'm planning to become an old soak and a reformed smoker after my kids fly the nest.

i don't want to live to be so old, tbh.

Original poster
Notalone · 01/11/2008 19:47

FGMID - how can that sort of thing happen to anyone?

Go for it Izyboy - I don't think you will regret it. What are you doing now? I used to work in mortgages beleive it or not!

Expat. Maybe I will join you. On a serious note though I don't want to be old and infirm or die young. Is there an alternative??

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izyboy · 01/11/2008 19:55

Well SAHM at the mo, but done various - incl. teacher, so OT not far removed - I think I will try to arrange some job shadowing when the youngest reaches Nursery age (she's only just one). Tend to be a bit of a career hopper y'see - this time needs to be for keeps.

LittleWhizzingBella · 01/11/2008 21:48

If anyone wants to do anything practical about this and has either a downstairs loo or a car, you can get in touch with this charity and volunteer. They're crying out for volunteers and it's a much smaller time commitment than most charities ask for - either once a month driving elderly people to tea, or once or twice a year (yes just once a year if that's all you've got time for) hosting a tea-party for a small group of elderly guests and their drivers. It's worthwhile and fun. Contact the Elderly

My lightbulb moment about how truly terrible it is to be so lonely was being at a tea-party once and seeing a woman burst into tears because one of the other guests asked her where she'd been last month, as they'd missed her. When she stopped crying, she explained that no-one had missed her for at least 20 years, "and it is lovely to be missed again".

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