I don't know what it is but cancer has hit my friends hard this year. My husband just had a call from a dear older gentleman who we think very very highly of. to tell us he will be unable to meet us in Verona, as planned, this summer for the opera. Because he has lung cancer. I am so desperately sad. He has no relatives in UK, and I don't know how fervantly to suggest I fly over to help him if he needs it...he is an older guy, but hither to as fit as a fiddle, and so alone, he often tells us how lonely he is. I used to share our baking with him when we lived there, and he was always so appreciative, when it was such a small thing as baking for two is impractical.