For years Bob & I had a subscription to our local newspaper. Pre-stroke, he read the paper, front to back and loved doing the crosswords, often taking them to work to have something to do when business was slow. I loved the Arts & Literature sections, read the headline news and clipped coupons as we were always on a tight budget.
Post-stroke, Bob could no long read or do crosswords, so I changed our subscription to "Sunday only" as I could still get the coupons and, heck, it took me a full week just to read one newspaper in-between caregiving.
After Bob's death, I found I just did not have the concentration to even read the newspaper at all. And the few times I clipped some coupons, I usually ended up losing them or leaving them on the countertop when I went to the store. So I didn't renew the subscription.
And then calls kept coming and coming, and each time I explained that my husband had died and no longer wanted the subscription, yet still the calls kept coming and coming, almost daily, and I kept telling them my husband died, but the calls didn't stop to the point where a sales rep offered me a deal, $52.00 for a year, Sunday only, and I decided to take it just to stop the damn constant calls.
Imagine my shock, when the bill arrived, addressed to Bob or should I say "Robert" ... after how many, many times I told them he was dead. It really pissed me off... but I paid it thinking, well, maybe I'll will start reading it again.
So the paper has been coming every Sunday, and but all this time, I haven't read it once, and a year has passed, and it's just ended up in the recycle bin and so when I got the renewal notice in the mail addressed to "Robert", I knew what it was and didn't even bother to open it, just wrote on the envelope "Deceased, Return to Sender" and sent it back.
Immediately, the Sunday paper no longer showed up. And I thought, good. That's the end of that.
Then the calls started again -- jeepers! and at first I ignored them, actually was not sure who the number was from on my caller ID, thinking it was a telemarketer or another political robot call or survey -- but every day the same number called and finally tonight, out of frustration, picked up the phone and it was a newspaper rep telling me he "noticed" our delivery was stopped and I told him that's because my husband had died. And then he says, "Well, let me get you guys back on the plan..." and I'm thinking "you guys? didn't you just hear me? He's dead!" So I stopped him mid-sentence and said, "Excuse me, but my husband is dead and DEAD PEOPLE DON'T READ NEWSPAPERS!"
His response was "Oh!" (long pause) then "sorry. I'll make a note."
Let's see if that will work..... aargh! What's a widow to do?
4 comments:
In our bingeing, we have discovered “Midsomer Murders”, an old Brit mystery series. Last week, we watched one episode with a dotty old community theater director who only talked, never listened. One of the characters actually said, “You don’t listen, do you?” I don’t know why it was so hilarious, but we both laughed out loud. It takes so little to amuse us.
And M continues to make new connections despite his aphasia. We have just signed up for six weeks of intense PT, SLP, OT., in Chicago. Wish us luck.
Stephany in Iowa
Wishing you the best of luck, Stephanie!!
I'm still getting mail for my deceased father in law (died 6 years ago) and my husband. What was strange about my father in law's mail was they enclosed checks. I referred them to his executor of his estate and never heard another word from them. They go into the winter fire starting bucket. I still get calls for my beloved too. In the old days, him being deaf, I always answered for him. Now I just tell them to leave a message and I'll put it on his grave. If he calls them back to please let me know. That usually shuts them up. Some people were standing behind the door when God passed out brains.
I get mail for the previous owner of my house, The husband has been dead since 2004 and wife sold me the house. So when I got mail for Art for bidding on a trucking job I sent the bid back and said Art wouldn't be bidding this year because they took his license away when he died in 2004. Please take him off your mailing list. I hope that stops some of his mail.
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