Perhaps to Timothy it became abrupt later in the fall, when they were forced to realize the true extent of what was happening and that the Eagles would be no more, certainly not in the new year. He probably initially thought it was another bout of the intestinal troubles that had hospitalized Glenn before, and they would wait for him to recover and start up again. The "strange" things going on around him could be necessary business meetings relating to the Eagles business entity. It is such a huge machine, and though all contingencies would have been addressed in business papers, I'm sure there were certain decisions that required discussion with the members of the band and 360 degrees of management, not just Irving. I'm sure it was a very surreal and strange time for all of them. If the man says it was abrupt, I'll believe him!! Let him choose his adjectives LOL!