Talking to My Parents  The following excerpt comes from the
transcript of a workshop for members of the "Baby Boom
Generation" on conducting family meetings, led by Rev. Dr.
Holden in Hawaii in December 2005.  It wasn't the early morning
call. It wasn't the hurried preparations and flight to Florida.
It wasn't the strange hospital or even the startling news that
his mother and father had been holding back information from him
over the past years. With both parents in their late 70s, my
friend Steve knew there would come a day when their lifelong
independence would be shaken by an unannounced change in the
health of one or both of them.  This was that day. Steve was
confronted with a father in cardiac intensive care, recovering
from a heart attack, and a mother with undisclosed memory loss.
As bad as this was, it's not what had Steve frustrated and
feeling major guilt. It was his failure to get his parents to
respond the way he thought anyone would and should in this
crisis.  Steve wanted them to take action,