My mother was shrinking before our eyes, her hair completely gone and suffering from great physical pain but she still tried her best to keep her high spirits. I should admit that my mother and I were really close. We used to laugh a lot together and she had this idea that we were like sister and brother instead of mother and son. (Later, I realized it wasn't "us specific" for every mother fooled herself likewise occasionally.) Actually we were so, in more than a few ways... if she wasn't desperately ignoring what I really was, we could even be closer.