I identified myself with the protagonist Lotte, an 82-year old
woman who is progressing to dementia. She gets angry about whatever her
caregiver does and tells her son Sam that she (Lotte) has died.
The plot is simple: since Lotte cannot live alone, she was taken
to a country town bedsitter from her home, Manhattan. She longs to go back to
the apartment in Manhattan, and her four friends, all about the same age with
Lotte want to visit Lotte. But unfortunately they themselves are dependent and
have no means to visit Lotte. Gradually, communication between Lotte and them
grows apart from each other because of their old age.
This is a sad story, but it reveals the inevitable situation old
people face sooner or later.
It is amazing that the writer wrote this short story at the age of
90 (she was born in 1928).