My 84-year-old mother, brilliant and beautiful and strange, has been suffering from Alzheimer’s. I tried to keep her in her house as long as possible. Research shows that familiar surroundings make a big difference. Unfortunately, she kept getting into car accidents and burning things on the stove. But I hired visiting nurses to take care of her. In the end, it came down to a fall. I warned her to be careful because senior citizens often spiral toward death after a fall. Maybe she couldn’t be. One night earlier this year, she got up to go to the bathroom and fell. Little did she know it would change her life forever.