Lauren and I walked our routine walk Friday morning. On the way back I caught up to Larry, an older neighbor whose wife passed away late last year. They walked together every morning and now he continues, alone. I've often thought of joining him and this time, I did. It was a pleasant encounter and I'm hoping the opportunity to do so again lies in the week ahead. He's an interesting and good-spirited person. After some work tasks were addressed I headed to SRC to check in on Linda's changes since the removal of morphine. I observed a clear and striking difference. She actually smiled and literally, audibly laughed at one point, in a way I have not seen or heard in weeks, maybe months. She said "I'm trying to try" and "did they do that already?" And "I don't have any pain" and a few other clear and concise sentences. It was not constant or nonstop but it was quite encouraging as far as getting more chances to communicate without guessing or assumptions. I left feeling pretty good about working towards that end. Back at home that evening we got a spur-of-the-moment invitation from Dom and Mary to walk to the nearby sushi place. I got a bento box and we had a pleasant evening chatting and dining, and even dancing briefly at Holders outdoor music event. I hate dancing and wasn't really in the mood to go out dining but I love Jennifer and I know she needed a change from the usual routine. I set up and tested out the new "smart lamp". I don't like it. I boxed it up this morning and shipped it back. It's too harsh. I'm going to test something else out, I still want that "sunrise" experience with waking more naturally when it's dark out. I started weening off of Coffee starting today, too. I think it's a possible negative to my mental health and I want to see if removing it makes any difference. Jen and I had a nice day of alone time. We watched a live Maria Emerick stream going into all the details and science around PSMF and it really enlightened my understanding of what's been working and what had not been for so long. I plan to rewatch it tomorrow, along with "15 Minutes of Shame" which I watched but want Jen to see it too. After getting Lauren tonight we went to see her mom. Sadly she was not as she had been Friday morning. She was modestly responsive at first, briefly, and it was short-lived. She said my name when asked. She was very quiet and occasionally muttering repeatedly things that I could not understand. Her eye contact was intense. I felt she was looking intently and with awareness but that's totally an emotional assessment. Overall I suspect that the tumor's damage has her unable to speak or focus for long, but I think she's aware of her surroundings and circumstances. This is where the 'humanity' of being drugged and out of it or clear and aware and emotionally facing mortality comes into play. What a fucked situation. It really hit me again tonight that she's potentially suffering emotionally, who would not?