AVERTISSEMENT\u00a0: Cette lettre contient des d\u00e9tails en lien avec un d\u00e9c\u00e8s qui pourraient offenser certains lecteurs. Nous pr\u00e9f\u00e9rons vous en avertir.<\/p>\n
Ce matin, au caf\u00e9 du village, j\u2019ai ce terrible avantage d\u2019entendre de la bouche d\u2019un v\u00e9ritable policier tous ces affreux moments de la vie quotidienne que certains humains tol\u00e8rent et endurent jusqu\u2019\u00e0 rendre l\u2019\u00e2me tellement ils en souffrent. Oui, oui! L\u2019histoire quasi inimaginable de ce matin, je vous la raconte pour nous inciter \u00e0 apprendre \u00e0 conna\u00eetre et \u00e0 consid\u00e9rer nos voisins, nos amis et tous ceux qui nous semblent dans le besoin.<\/p>\n
Alors qu\u2019il \u00e9tait en devoir ce jour-l\u00e0, mon ami policier re\u00e7oit un appel du concierge d\u2019un immeuble de six logements qui se plaignait d\u2019une odeur inhabituelle et qui insistait pour que la police s\u2019am\u00e8ne sur les lieux. La police s\u2019ex\u00e9cuta pour une v\u00e9rification de bien-\u00eatre. Juste \u00e0 l\u2019approche de la b\u00e2tisse \u00e0 multiples logements dont il conna\u00eet l\u2019adresse, le policier flaire une \u00e9trange odeur. De salet\u00e9? De br\u00fbl\u00e9? De viande avari\u00e9e? Il s\u2019agit de quelque chose de pire, suspecte-t-il. Les deux hommes empruntent l\u2019escalier jusqu\u2019au troisi\u00e8me \u00e9tage et s\u2019arr\u00eatent devant la porte de l\u2019appartement num\u00e9ro six. Le policier confirme qu\u2019il s\u2019agit d\u2019une odeur de putr\u00e9faction.<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0\u00ab\u00a0Quelqu\u2019un est mort dans l\u2019appartement?\u00a0\u00bb, demande le concierge.
\n\u2013\u00a0\u00ab\u00a0Un corps mort commence \u00e0 sentir en dedans de 72\u00a0heures, d\u00e9pendant de la cause du d\u00e9c\u00e8s\u00a0\u00bb, r\u00e9pond le policier.<\/p>\n
J\u2019ai demand\u00e9 \u00e0 mon ami comment il se faisait que les habitants des diff\u00e9rents logements n\u2019aient pas senti l\u2019\u00e9trange odeur de la mort. \u00ab\u00a0Tout probablement parce qu\u2019elle ne leur \u00e9tait pas famili\u00e8re avant ce drame.\u00a0\u00bb Il affirme que cette odeur, on ne l\u2019oublie jamais.<\/p>\n
Lorsque le policier entre dans le logement num\u00e9ro six avec le passe-partout du concierge, il voit tout de suite le corps d\u2019un homme dans un fauteuil roulant pr\u00e9sentant les signes d\u2019une mort \u00e9vidente. Des lambeaux de chairs brunes et noires pendent du cr\u00e2ne de l\u2019homme, ses joues sont renfonc\u00e9es, vid\u00e9es de leur substance avec un bataillon de grosses mouches noires picorant dans les yeux du mort.<\/p>\n
L\u2019agent de police constate aussi que le seuil de marbre de la salle de bain avait probablement bloqu\u00e9 le fauteuil roulant du vieillard. Le pauvre \u00e9tait coinc\u00e9 et mourut possiblement d\u2019\u00e9puisement ou de faim. \u00ab\u00a0Une v\u00e9ritable trag\u00e9die\u00a0\u00bb, dit le concierge, les larmes aux yeux. Le policier continua sa visite et, en entrant dans la seule chambre \u00e0 coucher du logis attenante \u00e0 la cuisine, il constata la pr\u00e9sence d\u2019un deuxi\u00e8me corps inanim\u00e9, couvert d\u2019un drap jusqu\u2019au cou, et la t\u00eate noircie.<\/p>\n
L\u2019agent rebrousse imm\u00e9diatement chemin, appelle son sup\u00e9rieur et demande la pr\u00e9sence d\u2019un enqu\u00eateur et d\u2019un autre coll\u00e8gue pour remplir les deux rapports de d\u00e9c\u00e8s. D\u2019apr\u00e8s le concierge, ces deux personnes \u00e9taient \u00e2g\u00e9es de plus de 80\u00a0ans. \u00c9taient-elles malades? Seules dans l\u2019appartement? Le couple avait-il des enfants? La police allait devoir trouver toutes les r\u00e9ponses \u00e0 ces questions et tenter de d\u00e9terminer la cause des d\u00e9c\u00e8s.<\/p>\n
\u00c0 l\u2019arriv\u00e9e du second policier, r\u00e9dacteur du rapport d\u2019\u00e9v\u00e9nements, ils firent diligence pour pr\u00e9server et garder intacte la sc\u00e8ne des deux d\u00e9c\u00e8s. Portant des gants de protection, l\u2019un des policiers prit le carnet d\u2019adresses qui se trouvait sur la table de chevet de la d\u00e9funte. Sous la supervision de l\u2019enqu\u00eateur principal, le policier r\u00e9dacteur ouvrit le carnet et trouva trois pr\u00e9noms de femme, sans nom de famille. L\u2019agent de police composa le num\u00e9ro sous le premier pr\u00e9nom, s\u2019identifia et demanda \u00e0 la voix de femme au bout du fil de s\u2019identifier \u00e0 son tour. Instantan\u00e9ment, la femme demanda ce que l\u2019homme faisait chez ses parents et le policier lui expliqua que les deux r\u00e9sidents du logis d\u2019o\u00f9 il t\u00e9l\u00e9phonait venaient d\u2019\u00eatre retrouv\u00e9s morts.<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0\u00ab\u00a0C\u2019est impossible, s\u2019affola la femme. J\u2019ai parl\u00e9 \u00e0 ma m\u00e8re hier matin!\u00a0\u00bb
\nLe policier ne l\u2019a pas contredite. \u00c9tant donn\u00e9 l\u2019\u00e9tat de d\u00e9composition avanc\u00e9e des deux corps, la mort datait d\u2019environ 10 \u00e0 15\u00a0jours.<\/p>\n
Tr\u00e8s chers lecteurs, j\u2019ai racont\u00e9 cette histoire immens\u00e9ment triste parce qu\u2019elle m\u2019a fendu l\u2019\u00e2me et parce que mon ami policier m\u2019assure qu\u2019encore aujourd\u2019hui, plusieurs personnes \u00e2g\u00e9es subissent le m\u00eame sort. Ce vieux en fauteuil roulant et sa compagne \u00e0 peine capable de marcher selon le concierge, vivaient dans un trois et demi au troisi\u00e8me \u00e9tage d\u2019un \u00e9difice sans ascenseur. Qui s\u2019occupait de qui?<\/p>\n
Aujourd\u2019hui, le policier est retrait\u00e9 depuis plus de vingt ans. L\u2019ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re, il s\u2019est retrouv\u00e9 c\u00e9libataire. En s\u2019\u00e9tant rappel\u00e9 la triste histoire qu\u2019il vient de me raconter, l\u2019homme s\u2019interroge. Arrivera-t-il \u00e0 prendre soin de lui jusqu\u2019\u00e0 la fin en demeurant dans sa maison de trois \u00e9tages? Cette demeure avec deux longs escaliers; un pour descendre bricoler au sous-sol et l\u2019autre pour grimper au deuxi\u00e8me \u00e9tage pour dormir.<\/p>\n
L\u2019histoire dont mon ami s\u2019est souvenu ce matin provoque en nous beaucoup de questions; chez lui-m\u00eame, chez l\u2019ami George (82\u00a0ans) et chez moi, bien s\u00fbr. Nous sommes rest\u00e9s pour boire un second caf\u00e9 et r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir \u00e0 haute voix. \u00ab\u00a0Il faut vite y penser, de dire le policier, car l\u2019\u00e2ge s\u2019enfuit comme un voleur et nous pourrions rester le bec \u00e0 l\u2019eau, isol\u00e9s, mal install\u00e9s, loin des n\u00f4tres et ignor\u00e9s de nos voisins\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0On est tous des solitudes, de dire \u00e0 son tour le vieux George. On na\u00eet seul et on mourra seul, comme de vieilles souris d\u00e9boussol\u00e9es, affam\u00e9es, cach\u00e9es bien souvent dans les profondes armoires\u2026\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Quant \u00e0 moi, qui approche les 77\u00a0ans, je crois que si la vieillesse est une d\u00e9gradation progressive du corps, il s\u2019agit cependant d\u2019une incroyable occasion d\u2019enfin ralentir la cadence. De prendre soin de notre esprit comme jamais nous n\u2019aurions eu le temps de le faire en gagnant notre vie. Aujourd\u2019hui, ce corps intelligent nous force \u00e0 ralentir la plupart du temps, pour mieux chouchouter notre petit c\u0153ur et les amis qui nous entourent.<\/p>\n
Prenons soin de tout un chacun; appelons nos amis, gardons contact avec nos voisins, assumons cette v\u00e9rification de bien-\u00eatre dont les \u00e2mes esseul\u00e9es et vieillissantes ont tant besoin. Chaque minute, aimons notre vie d\u2019aujourd\u2019hui. Peut-\u00eatre que plus nous l\u2019\u00e9tirerons, plus nous risquerons de m\u00e9riter quelques granules de sagesse.<\/p>\n
Cora
\n\u2764<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AVERTISSEMENT\u00a0: Cette lettre contient des d\u00e9tails en lien avec un d\u00e9c\u00e8s qui […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":43033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"acf":{"img_en":"","contenu_en":"WARNING: This letter contains graphic details related to death that may offend some readers. Reader discretion is advised.\r\n\r\nThis morning at the coffee shop, I have the terrible fortune to hear straight from a real police officer\u2019s mouth about all the horrible moments that some humans tolerate and suffer through until the day they expire. Why am I sharing this almost unthinkable story with you this morning? To encourage all of us to get to know and spare a moment for our neighbours, friends and all those who seem to be in need.\r\n\r\nWhile he was on duty one day, my officer friend received a call from the janitor of a 6-unit apartment block complaining about an unusual smell and insisted that he come by for a wellness check. As he approached the building, which was already known to him, a foul odour was noticeable. Could it be dirt? Had something burned? Rotten meat? It\u2019s likely something much worse, he suspected. The two men walked up the stairs and stopped on the third-floor landing in front of apartment No. 6. The officer recognized the smell of putrefaction.\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cSomeone died in the apartment?,\u201d asks the janitor.\r\n\u2014 \u201cA dead body starts to smell within 72 hours, depending on the cause of death,\u201d replies the officer.\r\n\r\nI asked my friend how the other tenants in the surrounding apartments hadn\u2019t smelled the strange stench of death. \u201cMost probably because they weren\u2019t familiar with it.\u201d He adds that it\u2019s a smell that\u2019s impossible to forget.\r\n\r\nWhen the police officer enters apartment No. 6 with the janitor\u2019s master key, he immediately sees the body of a man in a wheelchair presenting signs of obvious death. Flaps of brown and black flesh hang from the man\u2019s skull, his cheeks are sunken and empty, and a battalion of large black flies cover the dead man\u2019s eyes.\r\n\r\nThe police officer noticed that the marble threshold of the bathroom had likely blocked the elderly man\u2019s wheelchair. Unable to move, he may have died from exhaustion or starvation. \u201cA real tragedy,\u201d says the building janitor, with tears in his eyes. The officer continues his apartment check and, as he enters the single bedroom located next to the kitchen, he discovers a second inanimate body, covered with a sheet up to the chest, the head darkened.\r\n\r\nThe officer immediately turns back, calls his superior and requests the presence of a detective and another colleague to fill out the two death reports. According to the janitor, the two elderly people were over 80. Were they sick? Alone in the apartment? Did the couple have any children? The police set out to find the answers and determine the cause of their deaths.\r\n\r\nWhen the second police officer arrived to write the report, the two of them worked diligently to preserve and keep the scene intact. Wearing protective gloves, one of the officers took a notebook from the night table next to the deceased woman. Under the watchful eye of the detective, the officer opened the book and found the first names of three women, no surnames. He dialed the number under the first name, identified himself and asked the woman at the other end to identify herself. The woman instantly asked what the man was doing at her parents\u2019 place. He explained that the two tenants in the apartment he was calling from had just been found dead.\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cThat\u2019s impossible!\u201d said the woman, panicked. \u201cI spoke to Mom yesterday morning!\u201d\r\nThe officer didn\u2019t contradict her. Given the advanced state of decomposition of the two bodies, their deaths occurred approximately 10 to 15 days prior.\r\n\r\nDear readers, I am telling you this profoundly sad story because it breaks my soul and because my officer friend says that it\u2019s the tragic fate of too many elderly people. The old man in his wheelchair and his wife, who was barely able to walk according to the janitor, lived in a single bedroom apartment on the third floor of a building with no elevator. Who cared for whom?\r\n\r\nMy officer friend has been retired for 20 years now. Last year, he found himself single again. As he recounted this sad story, he wondered if he would be able to care for himself in his cottage until the end. He has two long staircases to manage \u2013 one that goes down to his basement workshop and another that leads up to the second-floor bedroom.\r\n\r\nThe story my friend shared with our little coffee shop trio this morning stirs up a lot of questions, in him, in George (82) and in me, of course. We stay to drink a second coffee and to think aloud. \u201cWe have to think about it fast,\u201d says the retired officer, \u201cfor age flees like a thief, and we could be left alone, isolated, poorly setup, far from our loved ones and ignored by our neighbours.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWe are all alone,\u201d continues George. \u201cWe are born alone and we die alone, like old, confused, starved mice, hidden away in the back of the cupboard more often than not...\u201d\r\n\r\nAs for me, a few weeks short of 77, I believe that, if old age is a time when the body gradually declines, it\u2019s also an incredible opportunity to finally slow down. It\u2019s a time when we can take care of our mind in a way we never had a chance to while making a living. Today, this intelligent body is forcing us to slow down most of the time, so we can pamper our little hearts and the friends who surround us more.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s take care of one another. Call your friends, keep in touch with your neighbours, take it upon yourself to check in with lonely and aging souls that so desperately need our care. Let\u2019s love every minute of our life today. Perhaps the more we stretch it, the more likely we\u2019ll deserve a few drops of wisdom.\r\n\r\nCora\r\n\u2764"},"yoast_head":"\n