Subject: Re: January 26, 2012 (CB) From: cynthia behrman Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:15:42 -0800 (PST) To: Ernst Meyer Dear Jochen Thanks for all three of your letters. Your tally of pros and cons about the dental nightmare make a great deal of sense to me. It is not unlike Ned's refusal to have the hip replacement. Limited days left in this life, some pain but manageable, as opposed to horrible operation, long convalescence and who knows what all. He felt (I may have told you all this) quite vindicated when there was all that fuss a few weeks ago about failing hip replacements and great lawsuits. I am really fascinated with Charlotte and want to hear more about her. Make sure her "voice" is very different from the others'. (but you probably do not need to be told that). Is she going to be prominent from now on? I hope so. I thought about what you said about Judge Macdonald. Probably true, but rather (to me) depressing. I suspect he is not aware of his bias? Is he? What do you think? It is unclear to me what your feelings about this are. Is it all a great Game? Or do you really think there will be an outcome of sorts? We went yesterday to visit a colleague of Ned's and his Vietnamese wife and their week-old baby, Avinash (means "unconquerable" in Tamil). If I can figure out how to send it, I will forward a copy of the picture taken with me holding Avi. Ned remarked on the way home, You really like babies, don't you? Yes, I do, especially the very young ones. I am concerned about the future of this one, by the way, because the OB delayed doing a C-section while the baby lost oxygen through a kink in the cord. The doctor may have delayed too long. Hope he won't turn out to be brain-damaged. Naturally, I kept my mouth shut. He's a very beautiful baby. Only thirty-five more days and the aconite might be blooming. That's a cheerful thought. Best to you both, Cyndy