1、I have bought food that I hope will please my mother， and that will be easy for her to eat: orzo salad with little pieces of crayfish cut into it， potato salad， small chunks of marinated 2、l have brought her a bouquet of crimson， yellow， and salmon-pink She likes the flowers very 3、 As I wipe my mother's face， I see that her skin is still beautiful I hold her chin in my hand and kiss her My mother has no idea that her ninetieth birthday is coming She has no notion of the time of day， the day of the the season of the year， the year of the No notion of the approaching And no idea any longer， who I Her forgetting of me happened just a few months ago， after I had been traveling for more than a month and hadn't been to see When I came back， she asked me if I were her niece， l said no， I was her "Does that mean I had you?" she 1 said "Where was I when l had you?" she asked I told her she was in a hospital in Far R New Y "So much has happened to me in my " she said "You can't expect me to remember " My mother was once a beautiful woman， but all her teeth are gone T No woman can be considered Whenever I visit her in the nursing home， she is sitting at the table in the common dining room， her head in her hands， Medication has eased her anxiety， but nothing moves her from her stupor except occasional moments of fear， too deep for This is a room that has no windows， that lets in no light， in which an overlarge TV is constantly blaring， sending images that no one looks at where the floors are beige tiles， the walls cream colored at the bottom， papered halfway up with a pattern of nearly invisible grayish Many of the residents sit staring， slack-jawed， open I find it impossible to imagine what they might be looking When I walk into the dining room on the day of my mother's birthday， I see that she has already been served The staff has forgotten to hold it Though I told them a week ago that I would be providing She hasn’t touched anything on her tray except a piece of carrot cake， which she holds in her The icing is smeared on her hands and I don't want my friends to see her smeared with icing， so I wet a paper towel and wipe This fills me with a terrible tenderness， recalling， as it a gesture I have performed for my As I wipe my mother's face， I see that her skin is still beautiful I hold her chin in my hand and kiss her I tell her it's her birthday， that she's ninety years "How did that happen?" she "I can't understand how that could " l have brought her a bouquet of crimson， yellow， and salmon-pink She likes the flowers very She likes the "S It seems like an animal that's going to bite But it's not an animal， it's a That's a funny thing，" I have bought food that I hope will please my mother， and that will be easy for her to eat: orzo salad with little pieces of crayfish cut into it， potato salad， small chunks of marinated I have bought paper plates with a rust-colored background， upon which are painted yellow and gold flowers and blue My friends Nola and Gary come for my mother's When we are about to leave， I tell my mother that I'm going on vacation， mat I won't see her for three weeks， that 1 am going to the "How will I stand that， how will I stand that's she says， but I know that a minute after I’m gone she'll forget I was
