Fran Wescott

The Beginning I am a mother of “big” chirrens (as we say in the South). Our boy started high school this year and his big sister is a Senior. I have discovered that I am largely vestigial as a care-giver, entertaining questions about how much parenting is “enough” and whether I’m asking too much when I look for a hug, or company at the grocery store or information about plans.  Mom and Dad are neighbors just 6 miles down the road. They are beginning a new chapter of their own. They grapple with aging in place, how to manage changes in physical capacities and maintain a healthy independence. They are a true love story. As different as Mom and I might be in some ways, I’m taking mental notes and learning her particular gift for loving fiercely. And no one has more grit than my mother. She’s a marvel. Dad is a man who for decades would “sweeten” his coffee with the very tip of my mother’s finger, kissing it afterwards as if to lift lingering drops of either coffee or sugar. He lo