## Backstory: for those who weren't at Philcon and its attendant Maltcon...

Two weeks ago, Mom was complaining of a literal "pain in the ass" that didn't
seem to be going away, and on my way to Philcon sitting in a rest stop
on the NJTP, I got a call from her telling me she was in the hospital.  They
did a bunch of imaging and from what I gather, determined that her innards had
basically become a seething mass of tumors.  Now, before any outpourings of
sympathy, I must clarify that Mom has firmly been "done with life" for a few
years now -- the foot neuropathy hindering her mobility makes quality of life
far less than it could be, she's been bored out of her mind most of the time
and spends much of it doing word puzzles, she hasn't gotten into any new
engaging interests.  If Florida was a "death with dignity" state she would
have gone down that route long since, but it's not.

Both of us thus have a very practical and stoic attitude about death; we've
gotten all of her paperwork in order, most assets are in trust with me as a
full co-trustee already, and I have a ton of notes on what to do after a loved
one passes.  I've been handling all the online aspect of the finances anyways;
I pay her bills, and as of this year we flushed her incompetent tax accountant
CPA outfit and I'll do her taxes too.

I know much of this is the stuff that nobody ever wants to talk about, but
really, more people need to talk about it because otherwise a dying person
leaves an utter mess behind.  Some of you know.  I may be looking to y'all for
advice on some topics once in a while.  But note, we have not reached that
point as of now, and nobody knows when we're likely to.