Dear all – I’m writing this update while on a flight to Austin, leaving James and Coby to hold down the fort in the Knolls. They’ll both join me in a few days so we can celebrate our granddaughter’s second birthday. Yeah! But first, an update. Not long after James’s birthday, we both fell into a bit of a mental and emotional hole. The visit to the Death Café in Tiburon wasn’t the cause—it was actually a lively gathering with a wonderful mix of people, young and old, sharing stories and useful insights. But alongside the connection, we noticed some sharper declines in James’s cognitive abilities and more stiffness in his body, especially mornings. Lewy was at its games again. James has been steadily working on getting his affairs in order, which is sobering in itself. Combined with his symptoms, it left us with a dim outlook—too much of the future feeling too near. We reached out to a dear friend who is also a death doula, and while the time together was supportive and grounding, the d...