With my mom being so sick this past year, it has been a roller coaster ride of a year. My mother has proven to be one tough cookie though. She had a rough go over the winter. As a result of the liver disease, she had pneumonia twice and several bouts of hepatic encephalopathy, where she was confused, sometimes to the point of unresponsiveness. I am (and I think the doctors are too) surprised and impressed by how well she is doing health-wise and how gracefully she is accepting HUGE changes in her life. I hope if, and when, I am faced with a serious illness like my mother’s, that I will…