Moving my cat Zipper reminded me how someone with Alzheimer’s might react to a planned upheaval.

Each time I walk Mom home from synagogue and see her safely to her door, I am tinged with sadness. I know I’m doing the right thing by bringing her there with me. I can visibly see the excitement on Mom’s face when she is with me in synagogue. She radiates joy in her whole demeanor. Why then am I disheartened by it? During the extended period of the Jewish holidays, I took Mom with me to synagogue as often as I could. Not only did it get Mom out of the house for a little whil

Sometimes traveling to visit my parents is exhausting. I leave the house at 6:30 am to catch a 7:00 am train. That means getting out of bed at 5:30. In winter, it’s still dark at that time, but the birds are already up, already piercing the quiet of my back garden. Now that it’s almost summer, the birds seem to have doubled their noise. There’s quite a bit of daylight, and the chilly morning air is refreshing. Mom and Daddy signed their revised wills at their lawyer’s office