An Ambulance Took My Mother to the Hospital—When I Returned for Her Medical Folder, I Found My Mother-in-Law Moving Into Her Apartment

Those things can coexist.

My mother came from the same broader culture and still understood perfectly:

Ask.

That was all she wanted.

Ophelia could have called her from the hospital.

“Lucia, would you mind if I stayed at your place for two nights?”

Maybe Mom would have said no.

Probably.