Why doesn’t Ruth ever see her mother again? And how does she react to her death? Chapter 21

Ruth's father forbid her from ever returning home if she married a black man. The family had sat shiva for Ruth; she was dead to them. A few days later, while she was at work, Dennis called her to say that Mameh had passed away. It took a long time for Ruth to pull herself out of her grief. Dennis told her that she had to forgive herself, and Ruth knew that her mother had given her the passport because she had been aware that she was dying.