Italian Policemen Comforted An Elderly Couple With Home-Cooked Pasta

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After getting reports of an elderly couple audibly crying in their apartment, Italian police arrived expecting them to be injured. It turns out they weren’t physically wounded but battling a case of intense melancholia, which, at 90 years old, can feel arguably worse.

Because they are clearly the best people ever, these Roman police officers decided to remedy the situation with a home-cooked meal. To bring some warmth and humanity back into the couple’s lives, they prepared a dish of spaghetti, butter, and cheese. The police department might have described the meal itself as “nothing special” in a Facebook post last week, but the gesture was anything but.

With no evidence of crime or physical abuse, the police officers had no legal reason to stay, but they helped anyway out of human compassion. Make no mistake, their actions are indeed live-saving. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study in 2012 that highlighted this point, finding that isolation and loneliness cause adults aged 52 and older to have higher mortality rates.

Source: Facebook

According to The Age, 89-year-old Michele and her 94-year-old husband, Jole, seemed gratified by the affectionate display. There was no lack of emotion in the police department’s Facebook post either, which stated, “Sometimes the loneliness melts into tears. Sometimes it's like a summer storm. It comes suddenly and overtakes one… Jole and Michele they love each other. But when the loneliness is a burden on the heart, it may happen that they lose hope.”

It looks like American policemen could definitely learn a thing or two from their Italian counterparts.