She had seventeen house plants. Each one named. Each one watered on a schedule she kept in a little notebook by her kitchen window. Margaret was 71. She hadn't left her apartment in six weeks. Not because she couldn't. Because there was nowhere to go and nobody who would notice if she did.

This is the episode that started everything.

THE EMPTY ROOM is about the kind of going missing nobody talks about — not dramatic, not sudden, but slow and quiet and completely invisible to everyone around you. It is about Margaret. It is about the 14.7 million Americans over 65 living alone right now. It is about the neighbor who almost didn't knock. And it is about what changes when somebody finally does.

THIS EPISODE'S NUMBER: 58 Fifty-eight hours. That is the average amount of time that passes between when an elderly person dies alone at home and when anyone realizes they are gone. Let that sit for a second.

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR: — The story of Margaret and what seventeen house plants have to do with survival— Why one in four people worldwide have no one they would call in a crisis— The friendship recession and how we got here— What it actually means that the Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health epidemic— Why we stopped knocking on each other's doors and what it is costing us every single day— What community living changes about all of it

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Who in your life has seventeen house plants and no one to notice when they stop watering them? Who is one knock away from being found?

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS DISAPPEARING? Have you lived this yourself? Ann wants to hear your story. Every story shared helps someone else feel less alone. Drop it in the comments or email directly:

📧 btgmpodcast@gmail.com

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW NEEDS SUPPORT: AARP Foundation — aarp.org/foundationEldercare Locator — 1-800-677-1116988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988

Before They Go Missing is a solo podcast by Ann Reynolds. New episodes every other week. Prevention before disappearance.

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