As He Lay Dying

I certainly hope if I manage to reach the age of 95 and fall inside my house and can't get up or reach a phone, that someone will miss me enough to call the police and ask them to check on me sooner than in ten days. Like any one of my three adult children, if had that many, for example. 

That abysmal situation apparently occurred in the recent death of one-time Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, who allegedly lay dead in his home for more than a week before being discovered. The grim truth is that despite his fame and fortune, he mattered to almost nobody in his dotage except perhaps his wife. Sadly she, a spring chicken at age 63, was dead too -- also for that long. 

The bottom line: Don't count on friends and family for much besides a ride to the airport. If you ask me, every one of us should wear one of those Life Alert things to summon a stranger paid to come to your aid. (Money talks.)