The family decided yesterday to move my father-in-law into hospice care, and my wife and her brother met with those folks this morning. He's 88 with Parkinson's and a number of other health problems, but just a few weeks ago he was getting by in assisted living. Since then he's been back and forth several times from nursing home to hospital, and has gone downhill very fast.

My sister has also been in the hospital some, but now seems to be doing OK. In addition, my wife, my son and I have all had much less serious but still troublesome health issues, with many trips to the doctor and lots of tests and scans. It takes a toll after a while.

I hadn't been to a doctor for a few years, so once they had me in their clutches they decided to run every test insurance would pay for. Good news is I get a clean bill of health so far, with just a colonoscopy (my first and likely last) and a followup lung scan still to go.