Many traditional cultures share a genre of folk tale known in English as the `grateful dead story.¿ In these stories the spirit of a dead person whose body has been left unburied or otherwise mistreated gratefully rewards the passer-by who helps it f nd its resting place.This memoir is a modern twist on the grateful dead story: although his mother¿s body was most properly handled when she died, it was her treatment in life the author seeks to redress, gracing her story with the dignity and understanding few others could have recognized, in hopes that her memory¿if not her spirit¿can at last rest in peace.