He was just elected to Congress to replace Shirley Jackson Lee, who also died in office last year. He sounds like a good man, but we really need to start electing younger people.
MSNBC is reporting a joint press conference with law enforcement and the medical examiner is supposed to happen around 4pm est. about Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa.
Who had this as the cause of death?
It appears she died days before him but because of Alzheimerās he might not have know and was not able to care for himself.
Man, even with money we still die alone.
Very sad.
Sigh, and it also explains the poor dog, who was in a crate. Sad in every way.
Oh god, thatās fucking awful. I canāt even imagine him wandering around the house for several days while his wife had already died, and he probably didnāt even realize itā¦ 
What a horrific end to an amazing life. With my mother recently being diagnosed with Alzheimerās, I am now ecstatic that my parents have decided to move into a retirement community where they will transition from independent living to assisted and full nursing care as needed. There will always be people checking on them.
I hope he didnāt realize it. Iām going to have nightmares about the idea of this poor confused helpless old man with no short term memory rediscovering his dead wife over and over and over while he slowly starves and their dog barks for help that will never arrive. As an Alzheimerās caretaker this news hit me incredibly hard.
I wondered about the dog. That explains it.
We had a library patron, an elderly man with dementia who was the bane of at least two library systems (āNo, Mr. Atkins, you canāt take your pants off in the library! You have to keep your pants on!ā). His sister was his caregiver, and she died, and he didnāt realise it. She was finally found when a gas meter reader reported a horrific smell, and the police did a wellness check. They were hoarders, and she was not the only dead thing in house. Sad all around.
Consider also figuring out a way of keeping a gps locator on her person, in case she wanders off.
Yeah, thatās in my head, tooā¦ Just what a nightmare way to go out.
Iām so sorryā¦
Some comments from John Gruber:
I didnāt know Drum personally at all, but thereās a certain kinship amongst bloggers from the very turn of the century. Iāve read Drumās site continuously for over 20 years and I donāt know anyone whose style and approach can fill the void he leaves. He was obviously a very kind and generous person, but his approach to policy was ruthlessly (and thus to me, admirably) data and evidence driven. Strong opinions, loosely held. He brimmed with curiosity. Who, what, when, and where are all good questions but why is the most interesting one, and Drum always wanted to figure out why.
Hantavirus messed up my mother badly enough that it took us a while to recognize the onset of her dementia for what it was. So this hits home in more ways than one.
