Several months earlier:
“Momma, I’m going to South America,” Emma said excitedly as she walked into the cheerfully decorated room where her mother spent her days. “I’ve been accepted by the Reaching Kids through Music troupe. All those years of you and Poppa working with me has paid off.”
The woman sitting at the window turned and smiled as Emma entered. She was dressed in the pretty new pastel dress that Emma had purchased for her the week before. She stood up and held out her hands to take the flowers Emma was holding.
“Are those for me?” Alice Watson asked with a smile. “Thank you so much, dear. Do I know you?”
Emma sighed as she handed the flowers to her mother who immediately took them over to the vase on the small side table and began changing out the wilted ones with the fresh o
