Mom’s in There

by Fran Withrow 02.2026

In early 2023, Kirana Stover’s mother was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.  She was moved to assisted living with external hospice care. Stover, who lives in Spain, ended up staying with her mother for the next several months until her mother died in June of that year. “Mom’s in There” is a beautifully written memoir of their final time together.

There are a slew of books out there about the passing of one’s mother, but I feel this one is unique enough that it is worth a read. Stover tells her story through journal entries, with an added bonus of many lovely pieces of watercolor and crayon artwork by both Stover and her mother. I found the drawings by Stover’s mother in particular to be exquisite. Her self-portrait and her drawing of a cardinal in a tree are hauntingly beautiful.

Stover’s journal entries are poignant without being maudlin. She writes honest and touching descriptions of what her mother is thinking and experiencing. 

In April her mother cries in the bathroom. “It’s burny,” she says. “Do you have pain?” asks Stover. “No, it’s grief.”

Stover walks outside her mother’s room, finding solace in the birds and trees, and painting them is a comfort to her. Nature reminds us that the process of both living and dying is universal, and it feels right for the budding spring life to be acknowledged as Stover’s mother slowly fades away.

Her mother becomes weaker and more confused, yet her gratitude and joy for life continue. “Hello world, thank you for being out there,” Stover hears her mom say one day.

Dying is hard work. Yet both Stover and her mother face the future with resilience. Stover’s mother continues to have a foot in both worlds, and in her delirium near the end, says the most astute things. “Can you keep all these things together and also apart?” she asks. Later, she says, “Write. Maybe come the night, but I alright.” She looks at her daughter. “You are my pen.” (A statement which is truer than she realizes, as Stover sets down what eventually becomes this book.)

Stover is emotionally exhausted, as all caregivers are, so she takes breaks for herself, immersing in the comfort of nearby Yogaville, nature, and visits with friends. And when the end finally comes, all Stover can say is, “Wow, Mom. You did it,” because transitioning to what comes next is huge. 

Then she combs her mother’s hair and kisses her forehead.

Stover grew up in the Bellevue area of Richmond, where her mother resided until moving to assisted living. Readers of this book will recognize several landmarks: the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Seminary Avenue, Hollywood Cemetery. Richmond’s own Jonathan the Juggler comes to perform for Stover’s mother in her hospice room.

I appreciate the wisdom of this book’s title as well. “Mom’s in There—” physically in the hospice room— but also still inside a body that is changing and dying, no longer the mother and woman she was before. 

A lovely, heartfelt book that is well worth your time.