One week before my 23-year-old daughter, India, and I planned to visit my mother in Texas, we called her to check in. She was in a great mood, excited that we were coming to visit. “Come see me before I croak!” she’d joked. She and India have always been close, and they hadn’t seen each other in over three years. Their bond is the one thing that has been easy and uncomplicated from day one. We talked about feeding the horses and chickens on her property, and she told us they had a few “people-centric squirrels” that she liked.

A few hours later, my mother’s husband, Jack, called me to get details on our arrival. He advised that we stay at a hotel, keep the visits short, and take breaks. “Be prepared,” he said. “She gets really mad in the afternoon.” We also needed to make sure she didn’t

See Full Page