“I want to go see my parents,” she says, and I grieve a little, because the home she’s seeking just is not there.

When we lose a loved one to death, we experience the year of “firsts”—first birthday, anniversary, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas—without the loved one. But in my journey with Mom, “firsts” have come unexpectedly, at random times, over a four- or five-year period.