Ch.125 Pat Rallies and Says Something Beautiful March 2022           Three days ago, Pat was barely conscious, heavily sedated with morphine but unable to communicate even when less Read more

Ch. 124 Time is Running Out           February 2022           This morning Pat was pretty much nonresponsive even though she hadn’t had any morphine Read more

Ch.123 “I’m Ready to be Gone.”           February 2022           I’ve been feeling lonely this week. I look around our house and see nobody Read more

Ch.122 A Sad Day at The Refuge           January 2022           The Refuge is not large; about 20 persons reside there at any time. Read more

Ch.121  Taste and Touch Connect Us           December 2021           I usually come to The Refuge twice a day to “visit” Pat, once from Read more

Ch.120 Pat is Taken Off Opioid Pain Medicine and Immediately Functions Better           December 2021           Just a few weeks ago I wrote about Read more

Ch.119 Good News: Pat Lodges a Complaint and Makes Two Requests           December 2021 Part One: The Complaint.           I entered The Refuge at the Read more

Ch.118 Pat Cannot Say Ron’s Name           December 2021           Today at lunchtime we met Cathy, our hospice nurse. She will be seeing Pat Read more

Ch.117 Hospice November 29, 2021.           Pat has been receiving palliative care from a local agency for about a month. But I’ve been encouraged to engage that agency’s Read more

Ch.116 Pat Still Gets to Choose           Pat and I were talking after lunch. I mentioned how nice it was just for us to be together. Her Read more

Ch.115 Year End Review: A Lewy Body Year of Transition           Dec. 31, 2021. [Note: I've jumped ahead about six blog chapters to share this essay at Read more

Ch.114 Pat has Two Almost Pain Free Hours and Ron Begins to Relax           November 2021           Diane, the nurse at The Refuge, told Read more

Ch. 113 Pat Tells Me How Each Rock (and Person) is Special           My daughter Cindy had a great idea: bring Pat a small box filled with Read more

Ch. 112 Pat Thinks Better Then She Can Speak           October 2021           Pat and I used to talk about politics for hours. We Read more

Ch.111 Pat and I have a Serious Conversation about Death and Loneliness October 2021           “I will be gone…gone.”           Pat was in a somber Read more

Ch.110 A Simple Gesture of Respect           September 2021           Last night I brought our Collie Levi to The Refuge. Before we in, though, Read more

Ch.109 Pat Begins Taking a Strong Pain Reliever           September 2021           Pat has been in significant pain for a long time; she has Read more

Ch.108 I’m Here at The Refuge, Aren’t I, to Stay.           September 2021           This morning I came to The Refuge memory care facility Read more

Ch.107 Pat Moves to a Very Good Memory Care Center September 13, 2021           Three months ago, I helped Pat apply to a local memory care center that Read more

Ch.106 Tears of Love           Sept. 2021           I thought Pat was sleeping when Dan, her Home Health nurse, and I began talking about Read more