Mary took to wandering the house naked and became afraid of the shower and of uncovered light bulbs. One night she wandered right out of the house, in her nightgown and bare feet. The police found her several houses down the road. By spring, Mary was going days without eating or speaking, and the doctors were calling it Alzheimer's. Marie, who manages to care for her mother and children while helping to run the family glass-repair business from a living room desk, seems remarkably stoical about her mother.
Sophomore year is rough.
In a few days, she will take Mary back to the island for the first time since Christmas Eve. Maybe, just maybe, the first sight of the boats and the water and her own house will spark something in Mary's mind. Marie is on the phone, sounding sad for the first time. They took the boat out to the island over the weekend. Maybe she was thinking of going out to meet the morning boat.