Making friends as an adult is really hard. Making friends as an elderly person is even harder. But a neighbor in California just proved we can all do something to help combat the isolation and loneliness many older people feel by bringing them into the fold. And maybe even becoming friends.
Marleen Brooks of Missouri came home to a heartbreaking note from one of her neighbors. The 90-year-old woman living down the street wrote her saying she was lonely. She asked if the two could be friends.
Brooks shared the note with Frank Somerville, a news anchor at KTVU, who posted the note on his Facebook page.
The note read:
“Would you consider to become my friend.
I’m 90 years old- live alone. All my friends have passed away. I’m so lonesome and scared. Please I pray for someone.”
Brooks wrote a caption of her own which the local news anchor shared as well.
“Came home to this note from a lady that lives down the street from me. Makes my heart sad, but on the bright side it looks like I will be getting a new friend.”
Brooks did exactly that. She went over to her elderly neighbor’s house in the evening to introduce herself with cupcakes in hand. She wrote to Somerville after the two met and described how it went (which he updated on his Facebook page).
She’s such a sweet lady! And she was over the moon when we came over,” Brooks said. She then reported what the 90-year-old woman, Wanda, said during their visit.