Hi Tom, there is a book, Being Mortal, maybe the most powerful book I have read in a decade, that forced to rethink much of what you wrote here. I even sent my daughter a copy and told her if you read nothing else this year read this. It is about the end of life, for parents and children, and the choices we have to make. I have a friend I have written about often, who was married 60 years, whose wife passed first. Several months later, at a family gathering, he whispered he was done and wanted to go be with his wife, that there was nothing left for him here. And within a few months he died. YOur father may not be wrong, maybe staying too long is something you can't understand until you become him. Thank you Tom, a thoughtful post that obviously triggered much in me. T