Describing her third book, Sandy Lee Carlson says:

From the time I was a child and my Mom puffed on her Marlboro reds, I knew I would lose her to lung cancer. I felt the grief, rehearsed it.

In 2017, when doctors confirmed this nightmare vision, all those years of rehearsing counted for nothing. My mom was sick and suffering and would suffer more intensely until the end. I had two years to do all I could to bring joy and love to her days. I would go down to her and Dad's home in Pennsylvania every Friday after work to spend as much time as I could with her and Dad.

This is my tribute to Mom and to the comforting idea that life will go on, that the work our mothers do has a life of its own and will survive.