It seems this elderly woman had been declared dead. She woke up in the funeral home sometime prior to the cremation, climbed out of the casket and went home to her family.
They weren't exactly thrilled to see her, but sent her to the local government office to get herself undeclared. They wouldn't give her the food ration stamps because she had been declared dead. After making the rounds and unsuccessfully trying to convince the bureaucrats she was alive, she gave up, went home, concocted a sleeping tea and climbed back into the casket in the funeral home and went to sleep.
About 15 years ago, I had the opportunity to live with a young woman from East Germany. For a weekend we hosted the equivalent of a Social Worker from Poland and a city manager from Russia (I don’t know where she found these people). The most fascinating conversation revolved around the elderly. In Poland families were left intact, with strong family responsibilities. In Russia, parents did not have the same types of parental responsibilities and a lot of adults did not have relationships with parents.
In Poland alot of families were taking over the care of the elderly, but in Russia they were left on the street. As we allow our schools to question parents authority and allow parents to abdicate responsibility, we will be Poland or Russia?
At that time, the elderly who had been taken care of the state were a huge problem in