In most head counts my international family totals five: my wife and two sons, plus my mother-in-law and then yours truly. This reckoning, however, fails to include my father-in-law, who at times will visit for days on end.
The reason for his omission is simple: The man has been dead for years.
"He came again last night," my wife's mother will announce in the morning. "He stood right there in the corner for the longest while, just staring at me."