This winter, an older couple lived in a condo near us. The man was out with friends, fishing, when he had a heart attack. They got him ashore and to a local hospital. Suddenly, the wife was alone, far from friends and far from any store, with only a truck that was too big for her to comfortably drive.
He recuperated rather quickly and was soon back at their unit. He may have been well enough to drive the 1200 miles or so home but I think their middle-aged son flew down and drove them home instead.
The incident got me to thinking. I am at an age where death or paralysis from stroke could happen to me at any time. I don't expect it and I don't want it. But it could happen. I think we could stay home, maybe in bed, for the rest of our lives, to try and be ready for some such event. That seems like a way to waste what we have now.
We won't do that but it might help if I got into a routine of thinking about medical or other emergencies away from home a little more often and in a little more detail.
Having only one driver suddenly might be worth picturing. How could we handle that? We probably could do so but having pictured that situation beforehand might lessen the shock of being swept into it abruptly.
