My Eudora Welty year

Lately I've taken time away from my writing practice to care for elderly family members who live out of town. Most days I'm hovered over by the characters in my interrupted novel.  They're like guardian angels, making me feel at home no matter where I am.  Sometimes they nag me for not paying enough attention to them.  I say to them, well, Eudora Welty spent fifteen years taking care of her parents, and the characters in her stories didn't suffer one iota.  They smile, all angelic and amused, and say, ah but sweetheart, you're no Eudora Welty.