there are doctors, psychologists, and regular folks who will say we cannot give in to despair, and that we must hold out hope, but others will say we must face despair in order to do our despair work and let go of false hope. friedl told me she will never walk with us again and it feels like despair to hear it, but it's true. dogs are good and pragmatic natural philosophers, and they will help us work with our individual and collective despair.