Several years after Phyllis’ death, I crossed paths with her son at a memorial for a mutual friend. My ability to recognize faces is woeful and, when a familiar face appears in a new context, I am usually at a loss. The son was gracious enough to remind me of our relationship. “You know, my mother was always so grateful for everything you did for her,” he said.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Stan and Madelle Rosenfeld Family Trust, the William and Mary Bauman Foundation, and the William C. Kuzell Foundation (formerly the Fund for Arthritis and Infectious Disease Research).
The author is grateful to Lisa Rosenbaum, Sandra Lewis, Alex de Saint Sardos, Pascale Schwab, and Alan Seif, who made constructive comments about the manuscript.
Dr. Rosenbaum is head of the division of arthritis and rheumatic diseases at the Oregon Health & Science University, where he also holds the Edward E Rosenbaum Chair in Inflammation Research. His essays have appeared in Science and JAMA.
