Ella passed away last week at age 84. I have cared for her since she was admitted to the nursing home 2 years ago. Her granddaughter called me wanting to know the cause of death. In old age, the cause of death is often the wrong question, as the end is usually not a single…

Jason’s parents thought they were nearly done raising children when he came along. They were 41 and surprised but thankful for him. They were older than his contemporaries’ parents and felt like it. Their lessened energy to pour into Jason started a crack. In his twenties, the fissure grew when Jason married, moved 9 hours…

Blanche carefully pulled the freshly washed sheet up over her mother. Cornelia was just a teeny wisp of an old lady now bedbound with her arthritic arms and legs contracted into a semi-fetal position. The family situated her bed on cinderblocks in the open dining room where their lives intersected, and Blanche provided all her…