Elisabeth K. (name changed by the editors) always thought it would be enough. The 76-year-old means her pension, “after all, I always paid in.” But what she didn’t consider: As a self-employed entrepreneur, she didn’t get any employer’s share. The antique dealer would have had to travel significantly more. Does she regret that today? “You know, I don’t even think about it,” she says, “it is what it is.” Every morning she measures her blood pressure and writes the values down in her notebook. Then she takes four tablets, which she swallows one after the other with small sips. “For the blood and for the heart.” She can no longer walk well and has already had to have an operation on her left hip. “Old age,” she says, “is for the brave.”
Elisabeth K’s childhood and youth were all the more beautiful. Her parents fled from Chemnitz to the West, and she came with her grandparents when she was eight. The family lived in Frankfurt, “we had everything we needed.” After school, Elisabeth K. began an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk. But at 17 she became pregnant and had an abortion. “I always dreamed of a big family with lots of children,” she says. So she got married, had a second son – and opened an antiques shop. Everything was perfect, “but we were still so young.” After eight years she separated from her husband and from then on she raised the children alone. When money gets tight, Elisabeth K.’s mother helps her daughter out.
In 1980, the single mother ended up in the Starnberg district through acquaintances – she had been dreaming of this place for a long time. She also opened a shop here and the boys trained as carpenters and bakers. Elisabeth K. tells how she enjoyed inviting guests, cooking and baking. And that she was always there for those who weren’t feeling well. If there was money, she spent it. When her mother finally died ten years ago, there was suddenly no money left, nor a large inheritance. Elisabeth K. applied for basic security, she has just under 400 euros left to live on, minus rent and electricity. She can cope with that and can also pay for the expensive medication. But there is more to it.
The sons can’t help. One has already died, the other is sick.
Elisabeth K. has care level 1, and a year and a half ago she had sudden hearing loss. Since then she has been hard of hearing and has severe dizziness. That’s why she can’t wear the devices that health insurance pays for. But without hearing aids, according to her professional supervisor, Elisabeth K. would hardly be able to continue living alone and taking part in social life. The pensioner doesn’t do much anyway; Elisabeth K. prefers to stay in her modest apartment, talk to friends on the phone and write poems and stories. The Advent Calendar for Good Works covered the costs of the hearing aids. The sons cannot help their mother financially. The eldest son died of cancer last year, the younger one is mentally ill.
Elisabeth K. puts her breakfast in the kitchen. She moves slowly and carefully and also uses a stick to take steps around the apartment. She has a walker for longer distances. Later she will go into her little garden, feed and watch the birds and check on the hedgehog that was there the day before. Despite the autumnal temperatures, the rose on the house wall has still bloomed, and two last sunflowers are holding up well. “Despite everything,” says Elisabeth K., “life is beautiful.”
Here’s how you can donate:
Advent calendar for good works from the Süddeutsche Zeitung eV
Stadtsparkasse Munich
IBAN: DE86 7015 0000 0000 6007 00
BIC: SSKMDEMMXXX
2023-12-17 14:37:51
#Advent #Calendar #money #hearing #aids
