My father the garbage head / Helen Schulman -- The gift / Sam Lipsyte -- My other husband / Ann Harleman -- Elliott / Jerome Groopman -- Caring across borders: aging parents in another country / Julia Alvarez -- Called them vitamins / Steve Yadzinski -- Ruth / Justine Picardie -- Notes on accepting care / Andrew Solomon -- The baby / Anne Landsman -- Death in slow motion / Eleanor Cooney -- Mourning in Altaic / Ed Bok Lee -- Don't worry. It's not an emergency / Susan Lehman -- In the land of little girls / Ann Hood -- The vital role / Amanda Fortini -- Planet autism / Scot Sea -- The day the world split open / Abigail Thomas -- The elephant in the room / Stan Mack -- Transformed by a touch / Kerrel McKay -- The animal game; or, how I learned to take care of myself by letting others care for me / Julia Glass.