For the first time , ever , she says, she feels no sense of obligation , no pressure . Mornings, I push her in her wheelchair through the park. Most afternoons we sit in her garden, admiring the bouganvillea -filled pots she brought home from her many trips to Mexico. Flowers, letters and phone calls arrive, friends come to visit, my sister stops by daily, and every night I try to cook a delicious dinner, which my mother eats with relish. For the first time in her life, she's not counting calories.
Life bears no guarantees.
And in the meantime , it must be said, we have never been so close as we are now. My mother tells us she has never felt so loved, and certainly I have never loved her more. Something very sad has happened here, no question. But something remarkable and rare is taking place too, that not every family has a chance to experience. We are telling each other things that might otherwise have been left unsaid.