My mother-in-law died on Monday. Her last years were exactly what everyone fears, a slow neurological deterioration affecting her mentally and physically. My father-in-law did a heroic job of caring for her at home, with considerable risk to his own health, until the last couple of months.She was a very emotionally distant woman. If I were to write her epitaph I would simply quote something she often said, even to her younger son who was clinically depressed and eventually committed suicide: "I shouldn't have to say that I love you; you should be able to tell how I feel from what I do." She never saw the irony.
