Yesterday Merritt's friends gathered for one of a series of sings we are having at his home, and raised the roof. There were close to 30 of us and the harmonies were amazing, though it was a bit snug for instrument playing -- your guitar neck tended to be in someone's face.

Merritt is getting weaker and is pretty much housebound, though he can still walk/stagger around, and a couple friends are transporting him for platelet transfusions twice a week to help with the leukemia caused by the chemo. Hospice is helping, but I gather that the music makes his week. Boy, did he belt the songs yesterday, along with an old friend up from Berkeley, and he speaks matter of factly about what is happening to him. After the crowd had thinned, he sang a chunk of "Oh, Death".

He is an amazing man, and I feel honored to share this part of his life with him.
Blessings,
Barbara