I understand it better now. We had a way of looking at and talking to Mom as if she were simple, as if the intelligent being who we knew...

“Hello, who’s this?” Mom asks suspiciously. “Hi, Mom,” I reply as distinctly as I can. “It’s your daughter, Miriam.” Talking on the phone...

I blame myself. I blame my cell phone. These phones suck us in and divert our attention. That's why I missed Mom when she came out of the...