I -am- a godmother, and although my godkids are almost godadults (but I will still remember them in their baskets, etc.), I also remember the Conversation about, should God forbid happen, if I would take over.

It was completely unlikely. Each kid has superbly functional parents who are brother and sister. But after that...I said that when I became a godparent, I assumed that this might be part of the responsibility, I was honored, and quite fully prepared.

It made me feel closer to the person who asked. And to my godkids.

Another thing: Cary's advice to work through a lawyer is a very good one. If your siblings are having major problems, kids who come with trust funds could be seen as a valuable resource. You do NOT want that for them. If you have these kinds of financial means, I'm assuming that you'll speak to a financial adviser and work to figure out a trust structure to protect the kids.

@Parson Jim.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

If you can't disprove it, swear at it.

Say what?

You're not making sense. Do you want me to argue from authority, accept your authority, or are you saying that no authority exists?

Restate, please. Without the not-too-concealed agenda.

Thank you for the article. I'm going to Italy next week (haven't been for several decades), and of course, my friends and I have hyperplanned.

We've also been angsting about the exchange rate, should we have spent the money, blah blah blah.

I haven't had a two-week vacation for I forget how long, so I'm grateful for the reminder that the trip -- regardless of what I cram into it or do not -- is what I make of it and what I bring to it. There can be roses, but if I don't make time to smell them...

I keep reminding myself that what I'm feeling isn't ulcers but excitement! Thanks for the lesson. I promise not to "tuck into" anything or inflict yuppie yummyspeak on anyone.

Be happy.

People who've fought long and hard for a right deserve to enjoy it.

I'm very sorry it's come to this and that you're hurt, disillusioned, and worried about your father. I think Cary gave good advice. What money is gone is gone: the question is now making certain that he's secure and that what assets he can salvage are salvaged. I'd take a look at him and see if he is showing behavioral or cognitive changes. Bad judgment does not equal Alzheimer, but it's good to see if he's caring for himself well. As Laurel points out, for some older men, learning to live alone is pure hell, whether or not money is there.

There may be very little you can do to salvage this situation for your father. What you can do, male or female, is plan ahead for your own later years by careful financial management, careful information of what goes where, who gets what, what YOU want, and yearly "checkups" with your accountant, lawyer and financial advisor.

It would be nice if we could all count on people to do as they're pretty sure we'd want. But the truth is that many people have unhealthy, if not unholy, attitudes toward money, and the possibility of a legacy makes them seriously crazy.

Don't let it happen in the next generation too.

Are you sure you'd be dominant?

The bottom controls.

The lion in winter is still a lion.

It struck me, as I was looking at the pictures, that some (not all) of the gowns that the young ladies wore were hardly modest. For the littlest girls, the clothes were age appropriate. But some of the gowns could have been fine at a debut, a prom, or a wedding.

I'm not talking PLDS prairie dresses, but strapless and spaghetti straps: what WERE they thinking of?

The Yankees were very classy about how they dealt with the Ortiz jersey. If this misguided member of Red Sox Nation has been indulging in reverse archeology, I suggest that the Yankees keep up the class act.

We survived 86 years. We are very happy with 2004 and 2007. We don't need any more curses, and we can beat Yankees without lucky charms.

BTW, I am a third-generation Red Sox fan who wore her hat on the NYC subway the day the Curse ended on 2004 and lived to brag about it.

My father -did- stick up for me and defend me when I was a young girl. He set a marvelous example for me of how to be strong and honest, how to care so much about people that human misery filled him with the desire to change it, how to be my own person, not Daddy's Little Hymen.

He was an outstanding husband and father who emphasized character, intelligence, courage, and hard work in my upbringing.

Of course, he set standards I can never match, but that doesn't mean they're not worth trying to achieve.

You're kidding, right?

For your next trick, tell us how that tirade wasn't racist, sexist and anti-Semitic.

And then I'll sell you this bridge in Brooklyn.

I can't believe you actually wrote that.

At the beginning of this long, long nomination ordeal, I was thinking that it showed how far we'd come.

Now, I think that it also shows how far we have, yet, to go.

That's as discouraging as the progress was encouraging.

The -one- advantage of the sexist and racist language outed in this campaign is that it's -out- there now; we know it's out there; and so we can deal with it.

We'd better. No more pretending it doesn't exist, or that it's nothing serious. It exists; it's serious; and we shouldn't tolerate it for a minute longer than it takes to extirpate.