When my friend read an earlier post about how Pierre had visited the doctor (and found out he had diabetes), she mailed me terribly impressed that I had managed to get Pierre to visit the doctor. She wanted to know what I had done as her husband refused to go for years even though she was sure that he needed to. I wrote back and shared my trick with her. She wrote back to tell me that it had worked and her husband had just allowed her to make a doctor's appointment for him. The trick? Oh, it's simple. You just tell him that when he is sitting in the corner drooling on himself with limbs missing and (add whatever most scares him), you are not taking care of him because if he had taken better care of himself, none of it would have happened. Be graphic. Be strong. Trust me, it will get his attention. Try it and save his life (and your mental well being).

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive