Watching her face during slide 8 told me more than any discovery call would have.

My grandpa died when I was 16 and for like two years I could not say the word. It was always "we lost him" or "since he passed" and it felt like I was lying every time. My mom finally just said it plain one night at dinner, "your grandpa died," and I broke down crying in a way I hadn't been able to before. Something about the bluntness gave me permission to actually be sad instead of tiptoeing around it. Saying the real word is hard the first few times but it gets easier and the grief stops feeling like this thing I have to hide. Now I say died and people sometimes look uncomfortable for a second but then they relax too, like they were waiting for someone to just be real about it.

Did your buddy try soaking the gel pads in a little water? My friend bought one at a garage sale with the same dead signal thing and he said dabbing a drop of water on each pad actually brought it back for a while. Still kinda flaky after that but at least it wasn't a total brick.