In Losing Mom, you reveal the shifting power dynamic between parent and child as you share the incredibly difficult final years of your mother’s life. Why was this an important book for you to write? 

As my mom started aging and our roles reversed, more and more of my time and attention was focused on trying to make the end of her life as vibrant and easy as I could. After she died, the void in my own life was quite big, and writing helped me to fill it. Plus, when we were deep in the throes of her decline at hospice, she said something to me about how she hoped that what she was going through might help other people some day. That stuck with me.

I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?

The hardest part to write about was the last day of her life. It was such a mixture of sadness and relief, finding the right words to describe it took quite a bit of trial and error. The other hard part was writing the last word—it felt as final as if I was losing her all over again.

What is one piece of advice someone gave you that changed your life?

I wish I had the perfect answer to this question and that I actually was given one piece of advice that changed my life! But the only thing that comes to mind (after really giving this some thought!) is my father always telling me to ‘stick to my guns’. I can’t say it was life-changing, but I can often hear his voice in my head when I’m feeling like giving up or giving in. 

What do you hope readers are able to take away from your family’s experiences?

My hope is that telling the story of the end of my mom’s life will help make death a little less scary. It’s like the proverbial elephant in the room that we all tiptoe around, and if we could just talk about it more with each other, I feel like we’d all be better off. Also, to hopefully demystify the role hospice and palliative care can play in making someone’s last days the most comfortable that they can be. 

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