OK, to be brief: I've caught a cold, one of those nasty ones where the symptoms shift quickly and it's pretty intense but it's usually over fast, too. (Actually starting to feel human again.) Well, mom calls and I'm coughing and hacking, and as usual she drags the conversation on and I finally just say I can't talk anymore. I want to rest. So I end the call and she calls back later, and my husband picks it up. She and he chat a bit, and at one point she mentions she's going to change her will to include him -- in case I die before him. Now it could happen, just like anything could happen, but I'm dealing with a nagging cough and she's ready to throw me in the coffin. How on earth do people get like that? If it snows, she thinks the roads are these impassable highways of ice, etc. Sometimes a cold is just a cold!
You should have called across the room "you haven't seen me off yet, mother!" Then touch wood quickly...
So. When you catch a bad cold, it occurs to her that her lifeline could die. (OMG-ha!) So to ease her irrational fear that her only care giver will up and die on her? She's going to schmooze your husband. ;) ;)