No husband, no kids, no family. The thought of going to a nursing home is more frightening than comforting because of all of the horror stories I have read and also personally am aware of for some I have known that have ended up there. When there are no family left, when I reach a certain age or health deterioration, what options do I really have when I do not have any money or retirement funds, no one really, to see that I am cared for? I read that Washington and Oregon now have a law on the books that allows one to take their own life when they do not have an expectation of living long (terminal illness) but I do not know if that includes old age. I know that no one wants to think about being all alone in life but what do you do when you know that you will be all alone in death?
Be thankful that here in the States we have Medicaid to help those who cannot self-pay for care. Oh, old age is not a terminal illness... you could feel old at 80 with no health issues and still live to be 100.
I am an only child who had no children, and who knows if my sig other will be around when I become older. I actually look forward to being in a continuing care facility... to me it will be like a college dorm, but without all the late night parties :) I could make a lot of BFF [best friends forever] while living in the facilities. And if I am still mobile, I could do volunteer work to keep myself busy.