When I saw Mom on Friday, I came home sad and depressed. Mom had a bad cold, and it was clearly affecting her abilities. When we pulled her up from her chair to walk with us, her legs were visibly shaking, and she was shuffling along like Tim Conway in the Carol Burnett Show. If it weren’t so wretched, I’d be laughing. As younger people, we don’t appreciate the truth of the adage, “use it or lose it.” What may feel to us like burdensome repetitive chores—doing laundry, shoppi

I tried to sit in silence, but it was painful to listen to Mom attempting to answer the doctor’s questions. Mom knew she was having trouble finding the right words. She knew she didn’t know where she lived or what day it was. And she was becoming upset. “Why are you testing her like this?” I asked. “Can’t you see she doesn’t know the answers? What’s the point?” Dr. Avshalom had been sent by the insurance company for a home visit to examine Mom’s surroundings and to test her m