According to Matthew Jaffe, ABC News, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden has canceled campaign events this weekend due to what his campaign called a serious illness in the family of the Delaware senator’s wife, Jill Biden.

Fox Channel reported that Biden’s scheduled campaign events for Saturday included a Washington, DC fundraiser, and a speech at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner, and events for Sunday included rallies in Roanoke and Richmond, Virginia.

But with the cancellation, he will now remain at his Wilmington home, due to the illness of his mother-in-law. The Channel also revealed that Joe Biden’s mother-in-law has been sick for some time and the family was not surprised to learn she had taken a turn for the worse.

ABC News has confirmed that Jill Biden’s mother, Bonnie Jacobs, has been receiving care for a serious illness in Pennsylvania. The fact is that Biden took a later train to Washington, DC, last Wednesday for the Senate vote on the economic bailout package, because he had a conference call with doctors on the situation.

In a statement, Biden spokesman David Wade said: “Hospice has advised the Bidens to remain close by, and we appreciate everyone’s respect for the family’s privacy.”

In fact, the illness of Jill Biden’s mother comes at the same time as Senator Biden’s son Beau deploys to Iraq. Delaware state attorney general and a captain in the National Guard, Beau starts his deployment Sunday with training in Fort Bliss, Texas.