My mother the gardener

摘要

As a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) designee, power of attorney holder, and lifelong confidant, I had been drilled from an early age to go to the mat with anyone who threatened her freedom to live as she wanted. This is your job, she commanded—over and over again until I wanted to cover my ears. Yet I understood the fear that underlay these 2-fisted pronouncements and promised to do my best.