The disabled woman a few buildings down was abandoned by all her family because her existence made them uncomfortable. She had severe chronic pain but the doctor cut her off opioids and told her she needed to find another way to manage it.
Every day and night she suffered thereafter. She hardly got any sleep due to the pain. So she started getting her meds illegally. And then someone gave her pills laced with high amounts of fentanyl and she died. Just another overdose statistic.
Her family showed up to her place for the first time in decades. All it took was for her to die. Packed all her stuff away in their trucks, left her cat behind--he belongs to us now. I can only imagine what kinds of things they said at her funeral. People often say things like "It's a mercy for them" and "They're happier now."
No, mercy for a disabled person is a good life just like is so for everyone else. For her, mercy would have been access to legitimate prescription drugs and the companionship of her family members.
She did not want to die. She is not happier now. She's just dead. I hope whatever items of hers they kept contain curses that latch onto them and never leave. May pain dig into their skeletons until they are left to live the way she did.
