Recently, when it was snowing for hours in Munich, Marianne L. didn’t leave the house for four days. How was she supposed to get through the masses of snow with her walker? There are no supermarkets near her, but luckily the neighbor was there for her. He shopped for Marianne L. so that she was provided with the essentials during these icy times. Even before that, he and his wife regularly checked on their sick neighbor. That’s going to change now, they’re moving. Marianne L. sighs. She would actually like to move out too. She longs for a 2-room apartment with short distances between the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room. An apartment that is more centrally and conveniently located and with lower additional costs. “I would like a bathtub for my broken bones,” she says. She thinks a house swap would be ideal.
There is a bus line near her house, but the buses only run at long intervals on weekends. And it takes her at least 15 minutes to get to the S-Bahn with her walker. “I would like to participate more in life and get to know nice people,” says Marianne L.
It’s actually called something different. For a long time she thought about whether she should tell her story SZ tell us and have your photo taken. Finally she agreed. Her son won’t like to see that, she says. He doesn’t like it when she complains. The 73-year-old doesn’t sound dissatisfied, but what she says makes it clear how difficult the situation is for her.
She and her husband moved into the apartment in the west of Munich, where she has lived for almost eight years. Shortly afterwards he was required to be cared for. The pensioner says that he went to the hospital with a stroke and that he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. After falling from the hospital bed, he suffered a fracture to the base of his skull. He couldn’t speak anymore. He has been dead for six years now. She had imagined her retirement with him at her side. “It was a great love,” she says. She gave up her own circle of friends for him. “It was a mistake,” she knows today. She only has one friendship from Upper Palatinate, where she grew up, and she still sees two former friends occasionally. Marianne L. actually doesn’t like being alone. That’s not good for her.
As a young woman she trained as a childcare worker, then she was employed as a seamstress, finally in an office. When her two children were small, she earned extra money by working at home. “I was always there for others,” she says haltingly, her voice full of tears. During the years in which she was still relatively healthy, she gave little thought to retirement. This is now taking its toll.
Her body was sending signals. Marianne L. has diabetes, her heart beats with the support of a defibrillator, and there is a piece of metal stuck in one of her cervical vertebrae. Because of astigmatism, she can no longer see well. “Only 40 percent right and 50 percent left,” she says. She had four corona vaccinations and was infected three times. Since then she has had difficulty hearing. She is afraid that it will stay that way. Purchasing a hearing aid would hurt her financially, just like buying new glasses. Marianne L. has to swallow more than a dozen tablets every day. She was recently recognized as having 100 percent disability. She says: “I can’t let myself get down.” For her safety, the diabetic was recommended to call a home emergency call. But she can’t afford that, and another apartment would be even more important to her.
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