In the next ten years one third of Canada's population will be baby boomers or the senior generation. Many will not be as mobile as they once were and unable to move out of their homes to walk to a communal postal box. They require home delivery to make their lives easier. It is well known that letter carriers look out for seniors, who may have no other source of support. Here is the story of just one letter carrier.
I was a letter carrier for 23 years. One day on my route, I approached the door of a woman in her 80's who often meet me at the door with cookies or just a friendly hello. This particular day, She didn't meet me at the door. As I slipped the mail in the mail slot in the door, I heard a faint voice saying "help me, help me". The woman had fallen down her stairs inside her house and landed at the bottom near the front door. She had been laying there for a few hours with a badly shattered hip. Had I not come by, I was told she probably would have died.
Her door was locked, but speaking to her through the mail slot I could tell she was in extreme distress. I told her I was going to break a small side window so I could unlock the door. In her delirium, she thought I shouldn't break the window, since she would have to clean the mess. She wasn't going to be cleaning any messes for some time, .... I broke the window and called 911. Her daughter later told me she was very thankful. I heard the woman lived to be 96 before she passed away, ... I hoped she lived a happy last few years.
