Doesn't look like I will make it to the Classic this year either--first time I'll miss it since I started going, several years ago.

I've been in FL for a while, back and forth between here and home while my wife stays here full time. My mother-in-law lives here, and is dying of bile duct cancer. So far it hasn't been very painful, but there's no kind of treatment for it. From what I can tell, the patient winds up starving. My MIL doesn't eat enough to keep a parakeet alive, and often vomits if she can get a bite down. She's living mostly on a few bites of crushed ice and a little water every day, and she's taking in less and less of that.

The situation could be worse though. She's in her 80's, lived a good life, done pretty much everything she ever wanted to do, and knows where she is going when this life is over. With us here she's able to stay home, and we can medicate her for pain and nausea as needed. My wife is an only child, so we don't have any other family to relieve us, but her neighbors check in all the time and give us little breaks to go out and eat or just get out of the house for a little while. Never thought I'd get tired of eating out, but I am (she can't stand the smell of food cooking in the house).

I might be able to make it to the IBO Trad World Championship at Twin Oaks--hope so anyway. If not, there's always next year.

Chad