Showering my mother with material things was so much easier than the thing I never once did, which was to sit down across from her, and look her in the eyes, and ask her how she truly was.

Money is easy.

Attention is hard.

Money can be transferred in ten seconds between meetings; attention requires you to stop, and be still, and truly see another person, and I did not have ten still seconds to give the woman who was giving me her entire days.

I bought her creams.

I never asked her how she felt.

I thought I was being generous.

I was being absent, and papering over the absence with my credit card.