A Japanese mother loses her husband during World War II and subsequently urges her son not to forget his heritage in the face of American occupation.

After his mother passes, a middle-aged man reminisces on the relationship between himself, his mother, and their house in rural Pennsylvania.

A single mother whose own mother recently passed away travels to South Carolina with her seven-year-old son in search of her mother's pet parrot, as she hopes to hear her mother's voice again.

After unannounced absences, lies, and a switched kitchen appliance, a woman in 1950's New York discovers the truth about her boyfriend and the life he is hiding.

In the 1990s, as a mother watches her thirty-three-year old son slowly die from AIDS, she grows closer to him than she ever has before.

A middle-aged woman is forced to grapple with her son’s mental illness and her partner’s disinterest. While she tries to accommodate everyone else, the woman begins to lose herself.

A low-income, single mom ponders how to comfort her son, who struggles to make friends at school. Even though she's been saving for a new dryer for months, she decides to buy him a robot at the local pawn shop.

As a man lays dying, his mistress, wife, and son must navigate their strange circumstances as well as the man's will.

In an attempt to impress his emotionally distant father, a boy ridicules his mother, who has loved him unconditionally even in his father's absence. Wracked with guilt, he yearns for her forgiveness - only to find that she does not hold it against him.

A writer reflects on his mother’s incredible strength, which he depicts in a short story. However, his mother does not approve of the piece as he had hoped, and he soon makes an important discovery.