I learned her real name, as well as that of my grandmother.

I am blessed to have had the help, kindness, and protection of Lou and Greg, the guidance of Sandra Dijkstra, Anna Jardine, and Aimee Taub, and the spiritual sustenanｒead•９9cｓｗ.ｃomce of the late-night posters on AOLs Caregivers Support for the Elderly.

This book is dedicated to them.

and Gu Jingmei

On the last day that my mother spent on earth,

As luck and fate would have it, two gread.99csw.comhostwriters came to my assistance during the last draft. The heart of this story belongs to my grandmother, its voice to my mother. I give them credit for anything good, and have already promised them I will try harder threａｄ.９９cｓw.coｍe next time.

I give endless thanks to my dear friend and editor, the late, great Faith Sale. To my astonishment, she could always sense the difference between what I was trying to write and what I wanted to write. She promised 九_九_藏_書she would see me through this book, and though she died before I finished, I believe she kept her promise.

Li Bingzi

My writing teacher and longtime mentor, Molly Giles, took over as editor and resurrected this book during those days whread.99csw.comen I was scared to turn the pages. Thank you, Molly, for your keen eye and ear, as well as for suggestions that were always true to my intentions. I also much appreciated the heavy doses of optimism during times we can now acknowledge as dire.