My great-aunt Pauline died last night. We got a call recently that she wasn't doing too well, but apparently things were looking up, until they weren't. I believe she was 86, but I may have to correct that number. In the interest of protecting the privacy of others, I will not go into the larger family drama playing out, except to say that my life is becoming a Jeff Foxworthy joke, and that the expression "the nut doesn't fall far from the tree" troubles me more and more.

CORRECTION: She was 84.