Yeah, I was wondering about that, too! That would be like having both parents of a household of unruly children take sick at the same time - who takes care of them while the town runs amok! 
yeah. I am a subscriber to Henry Caulfield's "gestalt" psychology, in that I believe there aren't a lot of TRUE accidents, and that there are psychological reasons for a lot of what happens to people that are part of their makeup, and that people resonate to one another - the closer they are, the more they resonate. And some, like Colson, don't end up on the receiving end of colds, petty ailments, stress ailments etc because he sees himself as a provider and protector, and it makes him insane to be helpless. Ellery, conversely, falls prey to just about every stress, strain, injury or illness because he is always running his engine too hot, not doing what's right for himself, and no longer able to get away with it the way he did at 25, and ends up needing someone like Colson around who isn't easily derailed. (Note for the lurkers: Mary Sue characters never have this profile, because they are wish-fulfillment characters, and someone like Ellery is far too flawed to be anyone's wish-fulfillment dream!)
Nick may end up being an Ellery in 15 years if he keeps pushing, but he's got military discipline around exercise, but Jeremy is caught up in the resonance of the stress of the station and suffering from his first big career challenge which is starting to make him fray at the edges. But Wes and Edna have a rhythm in their lives, and while the other people they know and love go through High Drama, it only just touches their living room and occasionally their guest room, but doesn't alter the steady state they have achieved over 40 years creating a state of calm that Edna enforces by chasing Wes into his den to talk business, and never lets it completely consume their lives. It's only those extremely well-organized, steady-state people who can truly anchor a community, and really give to others, because they don't live from one High Drama of their own to the next. Can you imagine a major accident needing emergency coordination during a winter ice storm like we had in "Chesterfield", but Wes can't come to the phone because he and Edna are having a knock-down drag out fight over Aunt Julia, and he goes MIA while Joe flounders trying to handle the personnel shortage? Not gonna happen.
