POLICE Hear Cries from Elderly Couple’s Home–Make a Heartbreaking Discovery Next.
When we gather with our families, relatives, and friends during the New Year celebration, it is hard to think of all the elderly people who feel lonely at this time of year. When we turn on the television, it is all about festive movies that often feature large families gathered around big tables full of food. But we forget that the reality is not always like that and that there are many people who are alone while everyone else celebrates—a loneliness that can have disastrous consequences if no one remedies it.
Michelle and Joel Betty were an elderly Italian couple who lived in complete solitude in a small apartment in Rome. Although the couple had been isolated from the world for a long time, hardly stepping foot on the street except to buy some food and go to the doctor, their life had not always been like this. There was a happy past for the Betty couple. Michelle and Joel met when they were just 20 years old, two enthusiastic art students who wanted to live life to the fullest. As soon as they met, they knew they were in love and that theirs would not be a fleeting one. They loved each other so much that they didn’t even wait to finish their degree to say “I do” in secret, in a totally clandestine ceremony in a small chapel on the outskirts of the city.
After graduating, they became traveling artists who sold their art all over the world: France, Italy, Spain, the US. There was no country that could resist them, no party they didn’t attend. During the day, they painted their pictures and participated in important art fairs to promote their work, and at night, they celebrated their successes or failures in the best nightclubs of each city. It is hard to imagine that this young couple, so full of life and love, could one day wither away and end up lying on a couch watching TV with nothing to talk about and no one to wait for. It is hard to believe, but it is the truth.
Of course, the Bettys never had children, nor did they wish to have any. Their lifestyle was totally incompatible with parenthood; a child would have been nothing more than an obstacle on their way to the success and fun they enjoyed so much together. “We’ll never be parents, we agree, right? Just you and me; we don’t need anyone else to make us happy, my love,” Michelle would always say to his wife when they had any doubts about the future.
And for many years, the drastic decision of marriage was the right one, and they enjoyed many joys that they would have never been able to enjoy if they’d formed a family. However, time passes for everyone, and that energy and vigor they liked to boast about was not eternal and ended up disappearing just as all their dreams did. As they grew older, their health began to suffer, and the excesses they’d committed throughout their lives began to take their toll.
Michelle, in particular, was the first to suffer a major setback when he contracted type 2 diabetes and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. This left the couple devastated, and they were forced to assume that their best moments had come to an end. The friends they thought they had were nothing more than just passing party companions, and all their possible close relatives—whom they’d taken it upon themselves to alienate and disappoint on numerous occasions by not attending family gatherings, birthday celebrations, funerals, or weddings—didn’t even remember them.
Joel, at 82 years old, was diagnosed at the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease, which ended up condemning the Bettys to lead a completely different life from the one they used to and meant the beginning of a deep depression for both of them. It was a sadness to which they were not accustomed and against which they didn’t know how to fight, letting it drag them down and turn them into two different people, isolated from the world and closed in on themselves.
And with this sad panorama, we arrive at the moment in which our story takes place and the event that would bring these two back to life and shock half the world. As we explained in the beginning, the Bettys lived in a small apartment in Rome, in one of the poorest neighborhoods of the city. When it all happened, it was the New Year holidays, and the elderly couple were, as usual, sitting on the sofa watching television. For hours, they’d been watching family movies followed by the bleakest news on the local news. This mixture of sadness and happiness would end up shattering the hearts of the elderly couple and would provoke a totally unexpected reaction that would attract everyone’s attention.
The Bettys, whose mental health had deteriorated so greatly in recent years, were so distraught by the loneliness accentuated by the harrowing stories they’d just seen on the news that they could do nothing but cry. They wept inconsolably, and their cries could be heard everywhere. Thinking they were injured, neighbors immediately called the Roman police, and officers came to investigate. However, when the police arrived at the seniors’ home and discovered what was going on, they were speechless. But it would be precisely what these big-hearted police officers did next that would end up stealing everyone’s heart and take the issue of loneliness in the elderly to the next level.
Medical experts warn that poorly managed loneliness, especially in the elderly and infirm, can have drastic consequences. Statistics say that one in 17 Americans over the age of 65 will suffer from some form of depression in their later years and will not seek help to treat it. The Bettys’ case was similar. When Roman police officers responded to a call from neighbors alarmed about loud screams coming from the elderly couple’s apartment, they expected to find physical injuries, but instead, they found Michelle, 85, and Joel, 84, crying in emotional pain in front of the television in their home.
“Are you all right? Why are you crying? Are you hurt?” the agents hastened to ask when they saw the elderly in that state.
The image was desolate. The house was in terrible condition; it was obvious it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks and had a strange smell of rotten eggs flooding in. The couple felt desperately lonely, and their grief had been increased by the distressing news they’d just seen on TV about child mistreatment and natural disasters with thousands of victims in some countries around the world. They had no physical ailments currently, but their hearts were crying with grief—so much so they couldn’t help but cry out to express their emotions. They were saddened that there was so much pain and suffering in the world, a sadness accentuated by the depression and dementia they suffered from.
The couple was frightened to see the police officers there. They stopped shouting and raised their hands, thinking the police had come to arrest them. They soon learned that this wasn’t the case, and they were able to relax and explain what was happening.
“Relax, we’re here to help. We won’t do anything bad to you. You can put your hands down, please. You’re safe. We just want to know why you’re screaming and what’s hurting you,” one of the agents hurried to tell them, very concerned about the attitude of the elderly.
Michelle, the older one and the one who still harbored a shred of mental lucidity, invited the agents to sit next to them and explained with considerable difficulty the reason why they were crying so much.
“The truth is that we feel deeply alone. We used to be the life and soul of parties; these two old geezers, they danced until dawn. But you see how we’ve ended up. Our only company is the mailman and the neighbors across the street. But now at the New Year holidays, there’s no one here. They all go back to their families to celebrate, but we have no one,” explained the old man very sadly.
The agents patiently listened to the sweet couple and, instead of leaving their apartment, decided to do something to warm their lonely hearts. After hearing their sad story and realizing that the elderly were all alone and living in terrible conditions, the police rummaged through the couple’s meager cupboards and managed to find a package of pasta, a piece of butter, and parmesan cheese—just enough to make some tasty food to help them feel better and ease their loneliness.
While one of the agents was cooking, the other stayed with the elderly couple and chatted with them. The agents noticed that the couple was very thin and, seeing just a few old grapes out on their kitchen table, decided to call an ambulance to check on the couple’s health. Half an hour later, the two police officers and the elderly couple were enjoying a delicious plate of spaghetti au gratin with parmesan cheese. Smelling the unmistakable scent of Italian food, Joel couldn’t hold back the tears, but this time they were tears of joy.
The agents accompanied the Bettys for at least two hours. Then, when they finished eating and were sure they were calmer, they let them rest and promised to return for further assistance. According to the police department, which published a post on its Facebook page a day later, the officers who helped the elderly couple hoped that their gesture of solidarity would somehow help restore strength and comfort to the couple and, at the same time, make more visible the sadness that the elderly face on a daily basis without anyone knowing.
In the post, the agents described their experience with the couple and explained everything that happened after they realized the real reason they wouldn’t stop screaming.
“There is no cry, and Michelle are not victims of scams, and no burglar entered the house. There is no one to save; the elderly couple was crying with sadness. The loneliness they felt was so great that it was impossible for them to hide and keep silent. My patrol partner and I decided to keep them company and offered them a hot meal, something they probably hadn’t tried for a long time. No one deserves to spend their last days in this world like that. We gave them what we all need: love and compassion,” the police wrote on Facebook.
The post quickly went viral with a multitude of comments praising the officers for their performance. One commenter wrote, “A nice act of kindness like this will make that poor old couple smile for a long time. At that age, memory works differently; we remember more, we feel more. What those policemen did will never be erased from their hearts.”
Another wrote, “Their loneliness and despair were soothed by two angels of the night dressed in blue. Thank you for your humanity, love, and consideration. No one should have to spend the golden years of their life alone and unhappy.”
After the news broke and went viral on social media, the Bettys received help from the state and were admitted to a daycare center for the elderly, where they would never again be alone and would receive the care they needed. Their tears turned to peace and tranquility, all thanks to the generosity of these two police officers. The world needs more stories like this.
