Alexa, thank you for the music

About two years ago, I got a call from my mother. “You know,” she said, “that Alexa is really working out. I was feeling a little depressed, so I told Alexa to play some nice music, and that’s exactly what she did. In a few minutes, I was feeling so much better!”

Alexa had become, not exactly a companion, but a presence in my mother’s home — one that made both her, and myself, feel a little better. This was at least part of what I hoped would happen when I first went shopping…