Sure, sometimes there is estrangement in families. Tragic, but real. Yet even in circumstances like that, when thousands of miles may separate mother and child, there are very few mothers who can erase the picture of their child's face from their memory. The bond is too strong. Estranged children know that if they have been separated from their family they generally stand a better chance of reconciling if they go through Mom.
Bonds tend to be stronger there.
And they come up with an exception. A mother that is mentally unstable. A aged woman suffering from Alzheimer's. I have your named carved right here on the palm of my hand. And unlike Rockwell's sailor man, this one is for keeps.