You're so right about the fact that people often have the best of intentions for the first week or so, but after that, they disappear. The people that really struck me in our case were the neighbors who had never really been close to us. We didn't know them well, but starting a few weeks after Mom was gone, they started dropping by to see my dad regularly and sharing food with him. I thought it was so smart how they stepped in when other people had gone back to their routines.

Enjoy the opera tonight - I'm craving the moment I can walk out of here! I need a weekend badly after all the craziness at work this week!