The D-Day 70th anniversary commemoration ceremonies of today and tomorrow have rightly dominated the news recently, with prominence given to the story of an 89 year old navy veteran who missed out on booking his group excursion to Normandy and took himself there by public transport, much to the alarm of people in his care home who hadn't realised he'd gone. Well, maybe he didn't remember to sign out in his enthusiasm to get going, but he linked up with other veterans on the ferry crossing and someone phoned home to let them know he was OK.
The media accounts of this were to my mind shoddy. There was no consistency in reporting when he got home. It was insinuated in some reports that he'd absconded in defiance because he'd been prevented from going by the care home when, as the care home manager said when interviewed, he was a resident free to come and go as he pleased, certainly not a person of concern due to vulnerability.
The editorial stereotype of a care home nonogenarian initially presumed he wasn't capable of looking after himself, when clearly he was. Increased longevity in our times can mean lots of different things to different people, depending on their state of health and their constitution. It's not so unusual any longer to be fit, sane, competent and active at great age. We hear of elderly people still running businesses, being creative writers or artists and athletically active well past their three score years and ten. It's good news to set against the just concern we have for others whose ageing has brought them 'trouble and sorrow', as Psalm 90 says. Sadly the increased volume of news 24/7 carries with it an increased volume of rubbish.
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