Dear Loved Ones,
The month of October was a great one. Early in the
month we had friends and relatives for a fun filled
weekend. We were joined by Phyllis and Vally, Jonah
and Susan, Eleanor and Jeff and three of Dan’s HS
buddies Mark, John and Ken. We had a “pajama party”
Saturday night where we painted, crayoned, shot silly
string and shaving cream while eating Sushi and fresh
fruit and veggies.
Later in the month it was Dan’s birthday and we were
joined by neighbors Pam and Dave Greco, Thad Tarpey,
and David Turner for apple crisp and frozen yogurt
(sadly, no silly string).
Finally on Halloween night, Dan dressed as a clown
and played drum for the trick or treaters… I drew
the line at the chanting though.. He teased me about
being “embarrassed”…
Zac helped pass out candy and Hana and Mary had a
great time with a very serious candy trade.
I have some great pictures of these events, but Dan’s
computer has crashed again, so I don’t have access
to them. I will send them when I can because Dan looked
great as a drum playing clown!
Sunday evening though, marked some serious changes
for Dan. He is having difficulty swallowing and breathing.
We have him on home oxygen, morphine and ativan. We
may need to take him into the hospice inpatient unit
to work on seizure control. He has not had any seizures,
but he is no longer taking anything by mouth, so his
medication for seizure prevention needs to be changed
over to IV.
Having things make this shift, I just wanted to let
you know about some of Dan’s “final” plans. He would
like to be buried in YS, without embalming and in
a plain casket.
That means the burial will need to be within 24 to
48 hours. He has asked Rabbi David to help him with
this transition, to help our family and to lead services.
With much, much love,
Abi and Dan
http://katzstein.com
http://life.katzstein.com