Some of them were but not my brothers. It is a shame because of his 6 year old son was in the house at the time. Just a shame, my Mom never did get over Richard being shot in the back running away from this fool of a woman. The only consolation we got was knowing Darlene did not get one red cent of Richards life insurance or his fencing business all of which came to over 1.5 million dollars. That is why she killed him. It was put into escow for my nephew for when he turned 25 years old. But....by the time he because of age the lawyers had ate all the estate up in court and legal fees. That is another sore spot in our family because of the thieving lawyers governing that boys estate of his fathers money. Just a shame. Deb

Reading all you replies makes me think I must have done something right. My sons are undoubtedly younger than you husbands, and they are both single in their mid 40's. I think that because they learned to do so many things early in their life (I was a single mom) they probably feel they don't really need a wife! Of course that means no grandkids! They were both taught to sew, by hand and with the sewing machine, starting out by making stuffed tee shirt pillows and fantasy designs out of old pillow cases. They were each in charge of making a meal once a week. Sometimes the results were 'interesting', but we ate them anyway. They are both now wonderful cooks. There was the typical goof, as when I told one to put the washed clothes into the dryer. I didn't tell him to turn it on, so he didn't! "You never said. . . ". I guess it all boils down to what your mamma taught you.

I think a lot of organizations don't have specific bereavement policies, but enable supervisors to treat their employees humanely. I was at the federal govt when my mother died 10 years ago; I left mid-day when I learned she had gone to the ER and returned 10 days later. Everyone in my office was totally supportive. Same goes at the nonprofit research institute where I work now - no bereavement leave but an expectation that people will be treated with dignity. A former colleague lost her husband under horrendous circumstances a few years ago; she was fairly new and had no accumulated leave, but her religion required a very long and specific grieving period. There was a huge effort to make sure that she could observe that requirement without impact on her job security or her pay for that matter. I would post a separate rant about airlines no longer having bereavement fares, but that whole industry is so unpleasant that it's probably the least of the complaints. Condolences to you @tibbrix - I hope you and your family find some peace in your memories.

Aww, thanks Cattyles. But, sadly, it's still looking pretty ferocious. I took this pic of it this morning to send to DD as a warning of what to expect. Lucky for me, though, my Bare Minerals (powdered makeup) covers it really well for when I do go out in public. This is this morning before Bare Minerals: But, here I am right after the Bare Minerals makeup. This is before, though, I brush on a tan-ish sculpting powder that takes away some of the bluish-white.