Tomorrow I go under the gas for a colonoscopy which means I have to drink a gallon of sluice juice tonight and go hungry. My dad died of colon cancer at the age of 61 so I have to be especially vigilant. There's no imminent threat of cancer but it does bring the thought into the boy's comfort zone.
Each of the older boys separately posed the one ultimate question. Tio asked "What happens if you die?"' and Kit put it more demonstrably - "You can't die! What will happen to us?"
I gave them both the same answer. "Look after your brothers."
