I once suggested to my mother that I might like to become a nurse. Her immediate response was, "over my dead body!" My mother, Helen Goertzen had been an LPN most of her life, beginning before my sister and I were born. We moved from Ontario to Manitoba in 1967, and it took a few years before she could update her nursing to Manitoba requirements. My dad had a heart condition for 25 years, so she was the main breadwinner for our household until she retired at age 65. She worked extremely hard as a nurse, and had no wish for that life on either of her daughters. But I took on the role of nurse for a month. I managed appointments, phone calls, pills, meals, house cleaning and made my darling husband as comfortable as possible for the 34 days from diagnosis until his death. Since losing my first husband at age 45, I was always a wee bit paranoid about losing my second husband. If he was out in the garage too long, I would occasionally check on him. If he slept in, I would peek in...