A couple of updates:
For Thanksgiving I did the green bean casserole in the pumpkin in the cast iron dutch oven all cooked with a wood fire outside. Roasting the pumpkin for about an hour before adding the green bean casserole seems to be the key to getting the punkin done.
On Nov. 5th my colon perforated (while waiting for scheduling surgery to remove a section with a cancer) (what I call a colon-disconnectomy). Emergency surgery and a week in hospital. Thankful for skilled ER team and the whole hospital care ( and all support members that keep everything working) team: nurses, PAs, student nurses who are not turned off by dealing with ostomy bags (stinky and poopy) who will be doing this work in the future, and everyone else who kept me going, and my family for their support. Meeting with oncologist next week; will see what they say about my future.
Re: Dealing with estates and how sometimes it doesn't go well: My parents put their assets, including various parcels of farmland, into trusts set up to provide income for the four of us siblings until the last of us dies, at which point the trusts terminate and whatever is left is distributed to our children. Up until a couple of years ago, we probably all expected we would be living into our nineties; our parents lived to 91 and 93, three grandparents into their nineties. We currently range from 70 to 75. We don't do drama.