I was my mother’s healthcare proxy, and the medical community followed my decisions even if I had no idea what was up or down or right or wrong. Still, both a palliative care nurse and a geriatric specialist suggested hospice to me. My mother’s oncologist had only...

She had also started talking to us with a shrill, theatrical voice that made her sound like she was extremely sick and weak. I had habitually reminded her to “use her strong voice.” Her response every time was to immediately readjust her pitch and tone and sound like...

So, we continued to make it happen. But if I had to be completely honest, I felt like I was filling a dog bowl for a pet every time I left her a sandwich to go to work. And her hygiene was poor despite us giving her a sponge bath a couple of times a week, and her...