Some of the most interesting people that I come across in the home care field are seniors that live alone and are what I refer to as "survivors". They have all their faculties, still maintain their household, maintain their property, maintain their lifestyle, and physical abilities (i.e. mobility, strength, balance, etc) and do it all on their own. I tend to receive these types of calls from them when an unfortunate mishap occurred in their life to cause them to need help at home such as an injury from a fall, catching pneumonia, or getting into a car accident. For most of these seniors, it is the first time that they ever had to ask for help. They lived their lives relying on only themselves and learned to overcome whatever obstacles life presented. These are the seniors that developed the confidence to depend on themselves and not to become dependent on others. Their tenacity and courage is what keeps them living a long, content life. It seems that when people start to give up and become helpless, their physical bodies start to give up and become helpless. Age related illnesses such as dementia, heart disease, and high blood pressure tend to develop. We can learn a lot from the "survivors" that are still going it alone. Two of the most important traits that they have are self-reliance and self-confidence.