Fading

            Looking out her bedroom window, Mom asks, “Does John have two little dogs out there?

            “Yes, Gunner and Radio, but they are not so little,” I reply.  She says, “Well, they look little from here,” but shows no recognition of their names.

            The entire afternoon goes by with her barely leaving her recliner.   She doesn’t ask for things to do.  She reads and naps and works her acrostic puzzles. 

            Later, this evening, Mom asks me what her mother died from.  And, for a moment, she isn’t sure of her cat’s name, Orie.