I had a fascinating thought. Could we fix her? She had only become this human machine after Dad died. She had been our sweet mother, always ready with a smile, an inappropriate joke. She even had a cute little belly, just a bit. But, when Dad died, that all went away. The lists began, the demands exact and precise, each task to be redone a dozen times as needed until it was right, and the distance grew. Sabrina and I were teenagers, and the hormones didn't help, but Sabrina had once cried where she could see, missing Dad. Mom had just stared at her, unable to make that connection. I wondered if I could stand in for him, somehow. Wake her back up. She already sounded different. More alive.
The idea of having my mom back was a happy one, so I leaned into it, despite not knowing if it carrie
