1.     Demonstrate by my words and actions my love for my wife, Joan. (This has begun; I have moved back in and we are doing fine together.)

2.     Get second opinion on liver mets of pancreatic cancer from Adam Slivka at UPitt. (Done. They agreed with Fresno doctors that (a) it's in the liver, too (b) that makes it inoperable. Also, they liked the chemo cocktail my doc is using because it's shrinking the tumor. That means slowing it down, not eliminating it, unfortunately.)

3.     Invest significant time with wife, Joan; my son, Gene; and my three daughters, Susan, Lucie, and Annie. And my three sons-in-law, 12 grandchildren, and one brother, nephew, and niece, often by taking day-trips or longer with each. Ideas we’re considering include:

3.1.  Take Gene to more Mexican dinners.

3.2.  Find something my grandson David wants to do with me.

3.3.  Take a motor home trip with Tony and Lucie and family.

3.4.  Visit Annie and family in Pittsburgh, PA, for a week in August. Take a road trip, probably to Detroit to Henry Ford Museum.

3.5.  Take a 14-day pilgrimage/cruise of E. Mediterranean sponsored by Catholic Answers. Visit Holy Land for first time. (This is Oct. 2-16. Doc guesses 50:50 odds of health being OK enough to take this cruise. Bought ticket with trip insurance.)

3.6.  Take daughter Annie and son-in-law Kyle and family on road trip in March, 2009 to desert, maybe a bit of Mexico, and maybe Grand Canyon.

3.7.  Sail from Guatemala through Panama Canal, then up to El Salvador with my brother Russell on the Bruce Roberts offshore 38’ sailboat he plans to buy in Florida. Visit friends in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, and El Salvador.

4.     Write a letter to each grandchild “About Life after Puberty and How to Avoid a Huge Blunder Made by Almost All” and give—unsealed—to their mothers (my daughters) for delivery when the mother decides it is appropriate or 21st birthday, whichever comes first.

5.     Write a second letter to each, “What is ‘Success’ and how important is it?” to be delivered the day before his/her 21st birthday.

6.     Publish “Marshall’s Top Four Humorous Remarks said by his Children.”

7.     Treat my mother-in-law, wife, and three daughters to a lobster dinner; even order an appetizer. Done!

8.     Prepare a list of what I want to do if I beat this pancreatic cancer thingie and last another several years instead of several months! Include a contingency plan for income in case I’ve blown my meager wad during the I-thought-I-had-just-months-left phase.

9.     Take granddaughter Morgan and daughter Susan for a 3-generation pedicure. Done! my first---and last!---pedicure. Fun, though.