Dexter's mother, at forty-nine, was

Dexter's mother, at forty-nine, was fifteen years younger than his father. Dexter liked his father and they usually got on well together. But his feelings about his mother were quite different. Dexter loved his mother more than anyone in the world. But now his mother was dying and Dexter knew that she couldn’t live much longer.
He needed to see her, but he was afraid. He was afraid to see how close to death she was. So this morning. he needed to be strong. He needed to make himself drive to his childhood
home. And he needed to make himself behave normally when he got there.