Response to "With Sweat Stripes Across Our Bellies"

     This story centers around a daughter/ family who watches as their mother begins to forget normal everyday things due to the fact that she has Dementia. I love the way the story was written, from the daughters point of view, and also the use of detail within her memories. The daughter seems nostalgic but at the same time just still glad that her mother is simply alive and able to do what she still can. I loved the idea of this story and I thought your use of poetic language worked well, including within the title. I loved your bits of dialogue, although I think I might would've liked to see a bit more of it. I also would like to know when the mothers Dementia started exactly considering shes now eighty-four. 
      I loved the fact that the title corresponded to the last line of the story and I think it also appears within the story. I think that image is powerful and really gives you a sense of the bond the mother and her daughter shared while gardening. It was clearly something important to them both. I also liked how you took the idea of a nurse who is accustomed to taking care of people, yet when it comes to her own mother, the territory becomes unfamiliar. I love that because I think it's something we all consider at least once in our lifetime. You mentioned the narrators children and husband, and I kind of wanted to know more about them because it seemed that the mother was now living with them? Or were they living with the mother? I would love to see some dialogue say for instance between the teenage boy and his mom discussing "grandma's condition" or what thing she forgot today or something like that. The husband could also chime in and lend to the situation as well. Over all I really enjoyed this story.