Lonely 90-Year-Old Lady Asks Neighbor To Be Her Friend In A Heartbreaking Note

#1

Marleen Brooks of Missouri came home to a heartbreaking note from one of her neighbors.

#2

The 90-year-old woman living down the street wrote her saying she was lonely.

#3

In her note, Wanda asked Brooks if the two of them could be friends.

#4

The note read:

"Would you consider to become my friend. I'm 90 years old - live alone. All my friends have passed away. I'm so lonesome and scared. Please, I pray for someone."

#5

Marleen sent a photo of the note to a local news anchor, Frank Somerville of KTVU, who shared it on his Facebook page.

#6

Brooks wrote a caption of her own which the local news anchor shared as well.

“Came home to this note from a lady that lives down the street from me. Makes my heart sad, but on the bright side it looks like I will be getting a new friend.”

#7

Brooks did exactly that. She went over to her elderly neighbor’s house in the evening to introduce herself with cupcakes in hand.

#8

She wrote to Somerville after the two met and described how it went.The post read:

UPDATE ON ELDERLY WOMAN WHO WANTED A FRIEND

Earlier today I posted about how Marleen Brooks came home and found a note from an elderly neighbor named Wanda.

It said:

"Would you consider to become my friend.

I'm 90 years old- live alone and all my friends have passed away.

I'm so lonesome and scared."

Tonight Marleen (on the left with her best friend on the right) went over to Wanda's house and met her.

She brought her some cupcakes too.

Afterward, Marleen wrote to me about what happened:

Frank!

She's such a sweet lady!

And she was over the moon when we came over.

Wanda told me:

"I hope you didn't think I was stupid for writing you, but I had to do something.

#9

Thank you so much for coming over.

I've lived here for 50 years and don't know any of my neighbors."

I also made sure that Wanda knew she can call us at anytime and that I'll be back to spend time with her!

I'm sure Wanda and I will have some great times.

--Marleen Brooks

I love this story.

And I'm so happy for Wanda.

But as I said in my first post, there are so many others out there who are lonely just like Wanda.

I would ask that maybe you consider knocking on their door and saying hi.

I know it would mean the world to them.

And who knows, maybe you'll make a new friend.

#10

According to Brooks, Wanda told her she has three sons and one of them died last year of cancer. Another one lives near her and the other lives far away. Wanda is on oxygen and divulged to her new friend that she has congestive heart failure, osteoporosis, and other ailments.

#11

A lot of the elderly experience neglect, isolation, and loneliness, and these can seriously affect their health and well-being. A 2012 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that social isolation and loneliness are correlated with a higher risk of mortality in adults aged 52 and up.

#13

And as for Marleen and Wanda? We spy the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.