Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody talks about dying. For individuals with life-threatening diseases, this is particularly difficult and isolating. I can joke about it, refer to it in a matter-of-fact, offhand manner, pretend it's not true, or ignore it, but the only person I can really talk to about it is a friend with Parkinson's. I called him up one day and said, "There's no one I can talk to about dying, and the two people I most want to talk to -- my husband and my sister -- are the very last people I actually can talk to." Thank G-d he understood.

BTW, I just saw the video for Kenny Chesney's song, "Everybody Wanna Go to Heaven, but Nobody Wanna Go Now," with the Wailers, and loved it. Country music mixed with reggae turns out to be a good thing.