I listened to this piece for the first time over the holidays last year (2004). And now that it's holiday time again, I have been thinking of it. And so I listened again, and it's even better the second time around. This is a really, really beautiful piece of radio. The writing and the production are so graceful and thoughtful. And the story is just extraordinary. I noticed the suggestion on PRX is that this piece would be good on Mother's Day... but I would argue equally good at holiday time (or any time. This piece does not "need" a hook). I say good at holiday time because it's a time when I find myself thinking about family, and change, and the constraints and possibilities of life. The mother in this story has a brain aneurysm, and the event rearranges her chemistry somehow and she kind of morphs into another person (used to be kind of tight and constrained, now sings aloud in public. Used to hate sex, now loves it, etc, etc). And the beauty of the story is the way the daughter observes this transformation, and reports on it, nakes meaning of it, for us and for herself. A really, really terrific piece!!!