A 75-year-old man is left alone after losing his wife: he wrote on the window that he would like a friend to talk to
Tony Williams' is a rather sad story which, unfortunately, reflects a reality shared by many seniors: loneliness. The man was widowed at the age of 75 and literally has no one to spend a few hours of leisure with. Nobody likes to spend time in complete solitude, but Tony decided to take action by any means to make friends with someone his age. Staying 24 hours a day in silence in his East Hampshire home is a real torment for the elderly gentleman, who just wants to chat with someone. His wife Joe was his best friend, and as he has described their relationship, she was also his soul mate. Now that she's gone, she left a huge void in Tony's life.
Tony and Joe lived a wonderful life in their home in Kempley, Gloucestershire for 25 years before moving to East Hampshire where Joe wanted to live to be closer to her sister. The two spent many hours cooking, laughing and listening to their favorite songs. They also had a beautiful garden with an orchard, where Tony dabbled in gardening, while Joe relaxed in his company. After moving to East Hampshire, Joe suddenly fell ill and just nine days after doctors diagnosed her with pancreatic cancer, she passed away. A very hard blow for Tony who, even in the last moments, always remained close to her.
"Now I'm here, completely alone, in the house where my beloved wife spent her last days. Whenever I walk into the room, the first thing I do is look at her photograph."
With these words, Tony describes the pain and the sense of loneliness that the loss of his wife has brought. To combat loneliness, Tony tried in various ways to find some friends: initially he spent 120 pounds putting two advertisements in local newspapers, after which he printed business cards to be distributed at the supermarket. Unfortunately Tony didn't even receive a single call. What would make him happy would be to spend a few hours in the garden with someone or maybe listen to some music together. However, the man did not give up and tried one last "extreme" option: hanging a sign in the window of his house with a clear message asking for help, in which he says he feels alone and hopes for some company.
Tony's message goes like this:
"This is my last resort. I've tried everything to be able to make friends, but nobody seems to be interested in talking to me. Not many people pass by my house, but I was hoping that the message would spread to the community and that someone could contact me . Jo was my best friend and we had a lovely life together. But now I'm completely alone. My wonderful wife just died and I have no one in the world. All I want is for someone to see the sign and call me. I just want to make conversation so I don't have to sit in silence all day. "
Tony has never been in contact with Joe's family and his only relatives live far away. Tony's request is really very simple and if we think about how many lonely people there are in the world, it shouldn't be that difficult to meet someone. Yet, today, loneliness is still an issue to be addressed and resolved, especially for the elderly who naturally remain more isolated.
We really hope that Tony will receive some calls soon and that he can find a new friend!
