Why not leave your group and just not update it for a while? (I am not a member, but wished I had known about it!) If anyone knows anything about yahoo groups, some are updated everyday, some once a week, others sporadically, and some started and never updated. Others are started.....and that's it, there's nothing even in them!
Just leave one message telling everyone what's going on, and it will always be there when you feel like coming back later. You are the update master after all, you can update whenever you feel like it! (Don't get too power mad, though....🙂)
So sorry about your dad. My dad died about 5 years ago, and I had to drop out of college and get a job to help my mom wih the bills. Still cleaning floors and busing tables to this day, but I'd rather see her out of debt.