What a sad way to die....

This poor chap in Vienna died and no one knew about for 5 whole years. This story was published but there must be tons of lonely endings just like every days. This is so sad. I wish nothing like this would happen to any of us. Even though most of us (my friends) are seperated and we live alone, it's always good to keep in regular touch. I call or make some sort of contact with my brother every day. Life in the US is really very lonely. It's about work and coming home, tv and sleeping. The family oriented, central home culture which is prevalent in societies in the East is an alien concept. It's harder for the students and scholars who basically leave their families in hope of a brighter future and all that....

Anyway...my point is that keep in touch with your circle of friends and keep an eye out for each other...

From Reuters...

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian authorities have discovered the body of a man who apparently died at home in bed five years ago, a Vienna newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The corpse of Franz Riedl, thought to have been in his late 80s when he died, went undetected for so long because his rent had been paid by automatic order from the bank account into which he received his pension, the daily Kurier said.

Neighbors said there was no strange smell coming from Riedl's apartment and authorities who found the body after a court order was given to enter said his body appeared to have "mummified" and was well preserved.

"He had been frail and a woman had helped him," the husband of the apartment block's caretaker told Kurier, adding that mail had always piled up outside the pensioner's flat. "We thought he had moved in with her or gone to an old people's home."

Police said they were not certain as to exactly when the man had died, but that they had found only schilling notes in the apartment -- the currency used by Austria before the introduction of the euro on January 1, 2002.

This story somehow reminded me of Tuesday's with Morrie....It's a great read. A good movie too. Amonst many things, Morrie Schwartz talks about dying and how to embrace death and appreciate life all the more. Incidently both Author and Professor Schwartz went to Brandeis! Woo hoo

Here is a summary from the website and a picture of the book cover.

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?

Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": lessons in how to live.