All gone

Just past seventy, Alex Witchel's smart, adoring, ultracapable mother began to exhibit signs of dementia. Her smart, adoring, ultracapable daughter reacted as she'd been raised: If something was broken, they would fix it. But medical reality undid that hope, and her mother continued to disappear in plain sight. So Witchel retreated to the kitchen, trying to reclaim her mother by cooking the comforting foods of her childhood.