unaffected, she couldn’t bathe herself, cook a meal,
managethetoilet,ordoherownlaundry—letaloneany
kindofpaidwork.Sheneededhelp.ButWilsonwasjust
acollegestudent.Shehadnoincome,a tinyapartment
shesharedwitharoommate,andnowaytotakecareof
hermother.Shehad siblingsbut theywere littlebetter
equipped. Therewas nowhere forJessie but a nursing
home.Wilsonarrangedforone nearwhere shewasin
college.Itseemedasafeand friendlyplace.ButJessie
never stopped asking her daughter to “Take me home.”
“Get me out of here,” she said over and over again.
Wilsonbecameinterestedinpolicyfortheaged.When
shegraduated,shegotajobworkinginseniorservices
forthestateofWashington.Astheyearspassed,Jessie
shiftedthrough aseries ofnursing homes,nearone or
anotherofherchildren.Shedidn’tlikeasingleoneof
those places. Meanwhile, Wilsongot married, and her
husband,asociologist,encouragedhertocontinuewith
her schooling. She was accepted as a PhD student in
gerontology at Portland State University in Oregon.
When shetold her mother she would be studying the
scienceofaging,JessieaskedheraquestionthatWilson
sayschangedherlife:“Whydon’tyoudosomethingto
help people like me?”
“Her vision was simple,” Wilson wrote later.
She wanted a small place with a little kitchen and a
bathroom. It would have her favorite things in it,
including her cat, her unfinished projects, her Vicks
VapoRub, a coffeepot, and cigarettes. There would be
peopletohelpherwiththethingsshecouldn’tdowithout