charlie gave his mother her medication , wiped her mouth , fed her what little she would take in , but by now she was mostly having sips of water or apple juice , and he listened as she lamented losing her looks and her things , as she remembered being a great beauty , the belle of the ball at parties before he was born , an object of desire , which clearly she loved more than being a wife or a mother or any of the dozen other faces she had worn in her life .