While I was in the feed store ordering a bag of grain for my horses, Sam, its owner, asked after my mother who was in a hospital in Miami. I told him that she mumbles, that I don’t think she really knows who’s with her, but the doctors hope she’ll recover sufficiently so that she can be moved to their rehab pavilion.

“When my mother had Alzheimer’s, she looked at me, then began a tirade: “ ‘You’re a fuckin’ asshole...you’re a bloodsucker...you’re a goddamn slimy, no-good, cheating motherfucker ....’ ”. She didn’t know who I was; I took her by the arm and led her back to her room. I had never heard her swear like she did that day, so, from my experience, it’s best for you if your mother doesn’t recognize you.”

I thought for a moment...then asked, “Sam, did you ever figure out who she thought she was talking to?”

E.P. Lande, born in Montreal, lived in France and Vermont. He taught at l’Université d’Ottawa (Vice-Dean) and owned country inns. More than 100 of his stories have found homes; “Expecting” has been nominated for Best of the Net. “Aaron’s Odyssey”, a gay-romantic-psychological thriller, has recently been published in London.