No, not the desert. Here lately, there has been a surge of emergency vehicles showing up at the apartments. Last weekend, three fire engines (including the really big, long one) were across the street. I found out yesterday someone thought they smelled gas. Good to know it's taken seriously.
Then on Friday, an ambulance showed up in front of my building, along with two police cars and one other unidentified emergency vehicle (it was dark). I did see them bring someone out, but that's all I could see. They didn't leave right away. I knew it probably wasn't good. It wasn't. This complex has about 600 units. Many of them are rented by senior citizens. Very senior citizens. I've seen cards on the bulletin board home nursing help. Well, one of the ladies on the first floor (who I think recently turned 89) passed away Friday night. Hence, the ambulance. Apparently, another resident of my building passed away earlier in the week.
The neighbor I was talking to said this is unusual. She also mentioned that the local authorities/emergency folks have dubbed this complex Death Valley. There's a nice visual. Seriously, I'm not surprised. I knew a lot of retirees lived here and with age comes the inevitable. I do think it's kind of odd that I lived across from an assisted living facility in Arkansas, which also had it's share of emergency service visits, and am now living somewhere again with the potential for the same issues.
I think I'd seen and chatted with the lady who passed away. I know I've seen her sister, who is actually older and somewhat frail. I think though what a blessing the two of them could live here till the end, so to speak. Apparently, they'd lived here for years and used to manage some of the social activities. The mix of retirees and still working appealed to me. I just hadn't thought about the downside.
