Walk the dog with your mom sometime. She’ll tell you things on that walk she’d never say at the table.

Walking side by side does something a table cannot. There is no eye contact, there is movement, the dog interrupts, and it becomes possible to say things that would feel far too heavy sitting down across from somebody. Parents often carry a lot they have never found the right setting to tell you. The setting is the obstacle, not the willingness.

Ask your mom to come on the dog walk this week. Do not open with a question; let the quiet run for a few minutes. Most of what you get will arrive once she has stopped expecting a conversation.