Chapter 8 · Bringing Mother

Mother's first time

Her mother had spent a lifetime taking care of other people. Stepping through the door, she was a little ill at ease, and whispered to her daughter: This place... is it respectable? Her daughter took her arm: Mom, only women are received here. And today, you do not have to take care of anything.

They arranged the gentlest session for her mother: the deep Balinese pressure at half strength, a floral scent, a pace slow as afternoon sunlight. The therapist explained every step beforehand, and her mother nodded as her shoulders came down, little by little.

What was said over tea

When both sessions had ended, mother and daughter met at the tea table. Her mother held the cup for a long while before she said: When I had you, if there had been a place like this... She did not finish. They both laughed, and laughing, both their eyes went wet.

On the drive home, her mother fell asleep. Watching the world pass the window, the daughter thought: so devotion to a parent does not have to mean buying things — it can be bringing her here, to be properly looked after, once. From then on, every year around Mother's Day, that session never moved.