Dear Anne,

I've spoken with Klemens; I lay awake part of the night trying to imagine
a way I could make this work. I won't say it's impossible; only that I can't
do it. I don't think that you or William could either, and I think once you
and William see what we are up against, you wouldn't even want to try.

I'm 86 1/3 years old. If I say I feel and consider myself to be dying, 
I don't mean to tell you that I've been to a doctor who told me to look for a 
hospice because I have only 5 more months to live. The IRS gives me 14.1 years 
and I pray to God they're wrong (as they usually are). But my thoughts are 
drawn to the end of life like an insect to a flame. My hips make it awkward 
for me to walk. To get off the floor, I have to crawl to the nearest chair 
on which to push myself up; and when I can no longer do that, when I am 
bedridden and can no longer get to the kitchen for food and drink, I want no 
help. I want to thirst to death, probably no more than 3 weeks. I hope I have 
the willpower to refuse all aid.

Those three weeks will be difficult not only for me but also for any half-
way responsible person in my vicinity. Arguably he or she would even be
under a legal responsibility to call 911, and then to have me committed to
a nursing home (or an insane asylum) to save my life. That's why I need to 
die in solitude. I can't tell when it's going to happen, but I hope sooner
rather than later.

Jochen