h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well done! There I am, wondering if I'm reading a horror story, when the last sentence stops me in my tracks.

It was meant to. My wife's Aunty Bunty ended up in a care home because she became paranoid in her last few years, thinking somebody was out to kill her. She was a lovely lady, who plied us with cakes when we visited and laughed at all my jokes. Sadly missed as they say

I have known many elderly who dreaded being put in nursing homes or any of their equivalents. A few of them died just before or just after being put there.

I've read strange tales of incontinent older women running away from nursing homes and becoming vagabonds, taking long trips on buses.

Aunty Bunty tried running away but they caught her. Personally I think I'd run away to 'see' as well, rather than staring at the same walls forever, waiting for feeding time in the zoo.

By the way, did you know some people on their death beds, wait until their loved ones go away, to kick the bucket? This happened to a friend of ours, only at the other end of the spectrum. Her baby nearly became a victim of cot death but she arrived in time to save him. Unfortunately he was left brain damaged.