Flying from Lanzarote to Gran Canaria, I notice the conversation between two middle-aged women who occupy the two seats behind me. One of them is very distressed; Without paying much attention, I sense the reason for her condition. i got it right “I have to find a center to put my mother in, she has been losing her memory and she can no longer be alone.”
The other woman listens carefully and asks “don’t you have siblings?”, “yes, two but they live in Tenerife and Fuerteventura. They are masters.” She can’t count on them. «And what have you thought?», She asks her. “No idea; Now, I travel to Gran Canaria to meet a lady who is willing to change the island and take care of her. I wish!”. She is determined to pay what they ask, within an order. A family concern that is repeated more than we think. What to do with our lonely and sick old people? A great and old social problem difficult to solve that each time has a way out. Private residences have taken the big cut on account of our elderly. Not even the most generous retirement comes close to prohibitive prices. «My sister-in-law is unemployed and although she needs the money, other obligations prevent her from fulfilling. She lives in El Hierro and was willing to travel three times a week from that island to Gran Canaria but the irregularities of the flights do not help and that door has been closed ». I hear that one of the woman’s nephews took care of the lady for three months but got bored of being alone on the island at the age of 32 and separated from his partner. The girl tells her neighbor from her seat that she has a house in Tenerife that she is willing to give away free of charge for the use and enjoyment of whoever she helps take care of her mother, because she has not even convinced anyone. …
