Aunt Bea: A Sad Story About Being Old

Older Americans fear entering a retirement home for many reasons. Once they move in, they probably aren't moving out. What they gain in care and a built-in community, they lose in privacy, space, and autonomy. And, perhaps worst of all, people who don't love them and don't know them will enter their homes and go through their things.

Paul's Great Aunt Bea recently went into The Home, leaving the place she lived for more than 60 years. In preparation for selling her house, it fell to us to sort through and document what she left behind: crazy wallpaper, frayed carpeting, and animal sculptures.