I am so sorry you lost your mother.  I think this will be something alot of us abstractors will be experiencing in the next couple years as I think the majority of us are in our 40s and 50s.  I agree with you that some companies just are unrealistic and inhumane about life and orders, orders, orders.  I too have wonderful companies.  It is rare that I ever take time away for personal stuff but I too could not complete one order on Friday.  My son who was in the terrible automobile accident which resulted in surgeries etc was attacked, believe it or not, at a police station parking lot.  A man followed him to his car asking him for money.  He got in locked the door and the man took out a knife and bashed in the window putting glass in his face and arms.  The police did see this happen and lazer gunned the man and brought my son to the hospital for treatment.  But they had to take his car for evidence and we had to get it out of the impound.  Then a recluse spider bit him 4 days later and he has a 2 x 1 inch hole in his arm.  The repeated events have caused so much depression we had to get him in somewhere on Friday for counseling.  My client, Amerisearch, that needed the order - their response "no problem Lisa - you do what you have to do"!  Been my client for many years and are absolutely wonderful people.  It is sad that we have to worry about losing a client due to personal tragedies or vacations much less to lower costs when the service we provided was excellent.  Bridges have been burned over the last couple years with abstractors and us informing others and us starting to stand our ground will only strengthen that we will not be subjected to inhumane conditions - because that's what it is.  And I think you are right do not accept another order from those companies unless they write you a hand-written apology letter for their inhumane behavior!