I used to roll my eyes at my mom's overprotective texts. Now I send the same messages to her and to my daughter.

The author (not pictured) cares for her mom and her daughter.

Courtesy of the author

I bounded upstairs to retrieve the laundry basket, trying to tack on one more chore before losing the day to my remote job's endless emails and Zoom meetings. As I picked up the strewn-out clothes — this is why my husband's a software engineer rather than a basketball player — I noticed my phone screen light up. It was Mom. She's away visiting my sister for a few weeks."Are you OK. Send me a message you are OK," her WhatsApp text read.The lack of punctuation in her text is not just a reflection of her not being a native English speaker, but an echo of her anxious personality. Above all, it's a symbol of her new reality, a universe where I, her firstborn, unwittingly find myself center stage.My mom used to be independentWhen Dad died in India almost a decade ago, I didn't want to deal again with the agony of having an aging parent thousands of miles away, and I insisted Mom move in with us.

The author sometimes gets annoyed by her mom's texts.

Courtesy of the author