My mother’s eyes open as I enter the room with Dunkin’ coffee, a blueberry cake donut, and two daisies. She holds her hand out to sit up, spraying yesterday's crumbs from her pink sweatshirt. I move the blanket, eying the bed for moisture. She sips gingerly as I say I will do her laundry today. "Use the laundromat with the big machines." I nod. “I know,” she says, her eyes bright. “Why don’t you put in the load of laundry and then come back while you wait?" My eyes fill. "That way we don’t have to be alone.”
Dawn Skorczewski is Professor of English Emerita at Brandeis University and Senior Lecturer at Amsterdam University College.