Better Off Dead

My mama is convinced that we would be better off if she were dead.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my parent’s den, watching television with my daughter when suddenly, we heard a loud wail erupt from my parent’s room. We were both startled, but didn’t get up; the sound had become familiar. For the past several months, my mama has been prone to bouts of crying, which is strange, given that for most of my life, I’d rarely seen (or heard) her cry. Not when her parents died, or when she had a s...