Marla squinted her eyes while rubbing her temples with both hands, struggling to remember the young woman seated on the sofa across from her. The woman’s pink lip-glossed smile was pleasant and her brown eyes glowed with affection. Her husband Rob, sat beside her holding his wife’s hand.

“Do I have grandchildren?” Marla asked.

“No, Mom. Don’t you remember? Rob and I got married when I was forty-four. I was a little too old to begin a family.  Mom, you must remember. I was so proud of you and Daddy when you came to the courthouse. Daddy looked so handsome dressed in a suit, and you wore your yellow dress with…”

“With pink flowers.”

“Yes, Mom, yes.” Sarah flashed Marla a thumbs up sign. “You do remember.”

“I miss James.” Tears welled in Marla’s eyes. “Why did he leave me?”

“Here’s a tissue Mom. Daddy had a heart attack. That was six years ago, Mom, before you got sick.”

Marla ran both hands through her cropped, steel gray hair, as though she could massage the memory back into her mind.  She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and couldn’t remember how long she had been in a memory care facility.

“Mom, what’s my name? Please Mom, tell me my name. I tell you every week."

“It’s Sally.”

“No, Mom. No! It’s Sarah.”  Sarah’s eyes glistened red, as though she were going to cry.  “I’m your only child. You raised me.” In an elevated, annoyed whisper, Sarah repeated, “Please, Mom.”

“Stop,” Rob interrupted shaking the hand he held. “You can’t keep pushing. Allow your mother to enjoy our weekly visits. If she doesn’t remember something, it’s okay.” To Marla, he asked, “Did you like the fruit basket we brought you last week?”

“Yes. I especially liked the peaches. They were sweet and juicy. I shared the apples with some of the ladies here.”

“Mom, what would you like us to bring next week?" Sarah asked. "Would you like fruit again or chocolates?”

“Well, Sarah. I got it right, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did, Mom.”

“Next week, please bring me flowers.  I think flowers would make me happy.”

“I’m going to find the biggest, most beautiful bouquet of flowers you will ever see, Mom.”

Sarah and Rob stood. Sarah walked around the small cocktail table that separated them and bent to wrap her arms around Marla. “Mom, I love you so much. It’s not important what you forget. Just remember how much I love you.” She gave Marla a warm kiss on the cheek.

Sarah and Rob faithfully visited Marla every week for the next three months, bringing fresh flowers each week.

*****

“I’m sorry for your loss,” the facility administrator said to Sarah during her final visit. “Your mother passed peacefully during the night. We found her in her room this morning. She always had the most beautiful bouquets of fresh flowers on a table at the foot of her bed so she could look at them every evening and morning. She was fortunate to have such an attentive daughter.”

Sarah took care of Marla’s final memorial expenses with the memory care facility. A week later, she and Rob sailed down an open country road in a new luxury model BMW. “How much did we get from this one?” Rob asked.

“Mommy Dearest left her would-be daughter 1.1 million dollars. Not bad for a few months of acting.”

“I meant to ask you about that wedding dress story you talked about a few months ago.  How did Marla remembered a yellow dress she wore to a wedding that didn’t take place?”

“Oh, that was easy.” Sarah replied. “I saw that dress in her closet one afternoon I took flowers to her room. I made it up that she wore it to our wedding. Once I said yellow dress, she knew what dress I was referring to. I have a question, Rob.”

“What’s that Sweetheart.”

“Do you ever think about us having a real wedding?”

“No, Sweetheart. Why should we mess up a good partnership?”

“Well, partner,” Sarah said. “In the next town, it’s your turn to use your banking experience to get a job at a bank so you can research who has money, with a nursing facility address, and no beneficiaries. If they have Alzheimer’s, you can pretend to be their son. If not, you know our routine. Get a job at the nursing home and become an exceptionally caring nursing attendant.”