Ever since I was a little girl, my mother has been filling out the crossword in the daily newspaper. It’s always on the same page, the one that has the comics, and some of my earliest memories are jostling for space on her lap as I tried to look at the comics and she tried to fill in letters.

She was diagnosed with cancer about six weeks ago, and since then we’ve been doing the crossword together. Some days are harder than others, but we’re getting through them as a team.