About the Book Trish MacEnulty finds herself in a maze of healthcare negotiations and surprising discoveries when her mother, once a small-town icon as a composer, pianist, organist, and musical director, can no longer care for herself. Book Synopsis A daughters memoir of sacrifice and discovery as her ailing mothers caretaker is an inspiring story of love, loss and the ravages of aging (Kirkus). Like all mothers, mine had a set of maxims that she thought were important to impart to me: if you cant say anything nice, then dont satay anything at all (unless its irresistibly funny); its as easy to fall in love with a rich man as it is with a poor man (a nice idea in theory); if you want to commit suicide, wait until tomorrow (advice which has, it turns out, saved my life). Like many daughters of elderly parents, Trish MacEnulty finds herself in a maze of healthcare negotiations and surprising discoveries when her mother can no longer care for herself. Trishs mother, who stood by her through her darkest years, was a small-town icon as a composer, pianist, organist, and musical director. She is suddenly unable to be the accomplished, independent person she once was. Now Trish has two goals: to help her daughter avoid the mistakes that derailed her own life, and to see her mothers masterpiece, An American Requiem, find a new life and a new audience in her mothers lifetime. Along the way, Trish rediscovers her own strength, humor, and rebelliousness at the most unlikely moments.