According to a recent Pew Research about 12 million senior citizens ( 65 and older) live alone. They reside in their own homes, in assisted-living facilities or nursing homes. Most of these Seniors do not get regular visits from relatives and friends. Others have caregivers and help from relatives nearby. I could identify with these Senior Americans, although I do not live alone. My youngest son lives with me. He still works full time in a night shift, so I seldom see him. Sometimes, I feel I am living alone. However, I have one relative who visits me regularly and bring food and conversation that I welcome and treasured. Another relative calls me by phone or FB messages once a month. I have another relative that I see once or twice a year.
Last but not least, Macrine (RIP) has relative that lives
nearby. She and her family have visited me bringing food several times
during the last 6 months. I will not mentioned names, but you know who
you are. I am indeed grateful for these visits. I feel very blessed in
my aging years for these caring relatives and again thank you ALL. It is not good to be alone. Loneliness and isolation is not good for your mental health.
This weekend I feel very happy during the regular weekly visit of Ditas and Leif. Ditas brought a Big Roasted Chicken wrapped in Bacon and other goodies.
The following photo show Leif and me, while we were watching a TV show after dinner, Ordinary Joe at HULU.
Here's an article from the American Psychological Association (APA) on the current status of these 12 million Senior Americans for your information and reading pleasure.
12 million
The number of Americans over age 65 who live alone, according to a report by the Pew Research Center. The percentage of older adults who live alone quintupled from 6 percent in 1900 to a peak of 29 percent in 1990, and has slowly declined since then, to 26 percent in 2014.
69 percent
The percentage of those older adults who are women. In 1990, women made up a greater share of older adults living alone (79 percent). But since then, the percentage of older women living alone has decreased from 38 percent to 32 percent, while the percentage of older men living alone has risen slightly from 15 percent to 18 percent.
1/3
The share of older adults living alone who say they are financially comfortable. In contrast, nearly half of those who live with others say they are able to live comfortably. Twelve percent of those living alone say they don't even have enough money to meet basic expenses, compared with 5 percent of those who live with others.
48 percent
The percentage of older men living alone who say that they are "very satisfied" with the number of friends they have, compared with 62 percent of men who live with others. In contrast, women who live alone are slightly more likely to be satisfied with their number of friendships (71 percent) than women who live with others (67 percent).
61 percent
The percentage of older adults who would prefer to age in their own home, with a caregiver, according a to a Pew survey. Seventeen percent would prefer to move to an assisted living facility, 8 percent would prefer to move in with family and 4 percent would prefer to move to a nursing home.
Source: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/05/numbers
Meanwhile enjoy this photo from my recent hard bound book, Life Memories, Becoming Americans published by StoryWorth.
Finally:
From Yesterday New York Times: A recent study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that 38 percent of 65-year-olds will develop moderate needs, almost one-quarter will have severe needs, 22 percent will have minimal needs and 17 percent will have no care needs.
Many older adults don’t have enough money saved. But others scrimp too much, lowering their quality of life. I hope you are in the group that is aging gracefully!
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