mental health issues. on top of that, ann soon contracted lyme disease, an infection transmitted by ticks that can cause agonizing pain. >> so that's why i walked with the cane. i have permanent nerve damage in my hands and my feet. the infection passed the blood barrier so it is in my spinal cord and in my brain. >> it was 2002, the beginning of what would become an eight-year downward spiral for both of them. an unraveling that would end with john dead. >> he entered into a very severe depression. at the end of 2008. and it was triggered by the death of a particular bird that he was taking care of. blacker was his name. >> when a opossum hiding in their kitchen killed whacker, john was devastated. >> he told me the day after, he