Treat new widows with consideration
I refer to the report ('Widow, 78, hid husband's death for 20 years to stay in home she loved', May 6). The harsh policies adopted by the Housing Authority in its treatment of new widows will have shocked many readers.
It is one of the greatest traumas any lady can go through in life, to have to adapt to new and sadder circumstances upon the death of her husband.
Apparently, in such situations, the authority's policy is to immediately eject the new widow from the marital home if she's left as the only tenant in a public housing flat. In these days of greater demand for more caring treatment of our elderly fellow citizens, that cruel policy should be scrapped. At the very least, the widow should be allowed a lengthy period of grace before being ejected from the family home.
The widow in your report had lived with her husband in the same Housing Authority home for more than 20 years. It was therefore hardly surprising that she wished to continue living in that long-term family home, albeit alone, after her husband's death.
The authority should show more understanding of the needs of the recently bereaved by allowing them the grace period I have suggested.
Indeed, it would be more seemly if it were to continue the tenancy for the widow's lifetime, if that is what she wished.
