An antique tobacco planter is amplified with looping audio of my cat Julio growling continuously. The growling oscillates from menacing to humorous. In my mother's final year, I left my cat with her and dad because my first apartment in Texas wouldn't allow pets. I often imagined what unknown language transpired between Mom (at the height of her cognitive changes) and Julio - who was a feral kitten when I found him on the streets of Brooklyn. Even while seemingly happy and content, Julio growls, crouches low to the ground and hisses at almost any movement or change that occurs in the space he inhabits.

The tobacco planter belonged to my grandfather who grew tobacco in North Carolina and eventually had to give up the crop due to diminishing federal support and quotas. Mom helped him plant new tobacco plants with this device which allowed for easier hand setting into the soil and less back breaking work.

Aphasia is a language disorder that affects the ability to understand, produce, or use language. It can cause difficulties with speaking, reading, writing, and understanding spoken or written words.

Dementia and aphasia can occur together in certain conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease -the most common cause of dementia.