Dear Mother.

How do people deal with loss? Especially to a dependent.

Who are you to me? A source of emotional support and encouragement? Or merely a biological yoke whom I siphon funds from? Why do parents do what you do; to nurture a defenseless babe into maturity in return for some sort of obedience? What provokes this altruism, this practice of your natural abilities? Is it merely to extend your affection to another being that you've brought into creation?

The night father hurriedly brought you to the hospital brought on a whirlwind of affection, grief, and hate that smacked me catatonic. The prospect of orphan-hood kept me awake for the whole week.


"A stroke", said the doctor. Does the spirit-crushing, heartbreaking image of seeing you laying down weakly in a hospital cot, equals in misery to that of a starved brain? The second stroke a week later didn't help either of our constitutions either.