Nora Ephron's son writes about his mother's final days, accepting death

Nora Ephron died last June. In her 71 years, she wrote plays, books, articles, blog posts, and movies—most notably When Harry Met Sally. Her son, Jacob Bernstein, is also a writer. In this week's New York Times Magazine, he beautifully chronicles his mother's final days in, "Nora Ephron's Final Act." Read it. It's worth your time.

At some point, a team of doctors and nurses arrived to assess the situation, and Mom became slightly more lucid.

"Can you tell me your name?" one of them asked.

"Nora Ephron," she said, nodding.

"Can you tell me where you are?"

"New York Hospital."

"Who is the president of the United States?"

At this point, my mother looked annoyed, gave a roll of the eyes and refused to answer the question, which later on was the source of some debate between Max and me about whether her sarcasm and humor remained even as her memory and focus faded or whether she was simply irritated at being treated like an infant. [New York Times Magazine]