What the hell am I going to do when I can’t make Lynn smile anymore?

My go to when her lips are barely moving and no sound is coming out is to say, “Not so loud.” She likes that one.

Six months ago, I had a whole morning routine featuring her, the Slo-mo Turtle. That got pretty elaborate with the log she lived on, her forest friends, and all kinds of silliness delivered with the staccato of a nature documentary. That routinely got not just smiles, but guffaws.

Early in the week I told her I got stuck in the driveway waiting for a gaggle of Garfield Elementary students to walk by on their return from downtown. And how some of the umbrella-less boys were drenched. The former elementary teacher smiled widely at that image.

What a difference a week makes. Today, I needed Jeanette’s help to get her to muster a slight smile.

She is not in pain and was quite peaceful when I left. But she’s waving the white flag.

We’re at mile 26 of the marathon.