Dear Annie: I don’t normally write in, but your advice to “ Balancing Burdens ,” the woman who was on the fence about telling her stressed and busy daughter about the recurrence of her cancer, was spot-on. To this day, I regret that I was not with my mother when she died from heart disease.

It was Christmas, so I was busy with a thousand things and I didn’t think it was a big deal that she was going to the hospital for a “minor heart procedure.” She never woke up, leaving my dad -- who was suffering from Parkinson’s -- alone to cope. I wish I had known, and after that, I vowed to always be honest with my son and daughter about my health. -- Miss My Mom

Dear Miss My Mom: Thank you for sharing your story. Even when people have good intentions behind their silence, like wanting to spare t

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