Recently, I spent the afternoon with my mother and watched her prepare a fruit salad. There's nothing extraordinary about that; just two grown adult women enjoying conversation and each other's company. That is--until the child in me begins peppering my mother with one question after another. At times I find myself forgetting that I have reached middle-aged and I am still the baby in the family curled up beside my mom as she read from her latest Harlequin novel. I watched my mother cut and slice the different fruits and didn't comment until she was slicing the strawberries. Mom sliced her berries down and not across. "Why do you cut your strawberries that way?" I asked. "I don't know," she said, "I guess it's so someone doesn't end up with an end piece." How thoughtful. "You know, it's all in the details," she continued. "A simple step now can make a big difference later." I couldn't disagree with that. L...