I called and actually managed to get my mom on the phone for a few minutes.

She barely made any noise the entire time I had her on the phone, which was about nine minutes. I tried to engage her repeatedly, but aside from saying, “Hello,” when someone put the phone to her ear, she was basically non-responsive.

Near the end of the call, I started to cry and asked if she could even hear me at all. She said, “I love you,” as clearly as she might have ten years ago and I felt a ray of hope. But then she didn’t make another sound for the remainder of the call and I eventually stopped trying. I said, “I hope you feel better, mom,” and hung up.