The answer to this question can be found in Chapter 12: The Professor. In Chapter 11, we learn that Morrie's mother had passed away seventy years ago, and the pain of losing her is still fresh in Morrie's mind.

Morrie was eight years old when he found out about his mother's death. The telegram had come from the hospital, and Morrie had been forced to read it aloud to his father, a Russian immigrant who could not read English. Morrie remembers how devastated he was on the day of the funeral. When an aunt wailed about Morrie's misfortune, Morrie had burst into tears. At the cemetery, he tried to remember all the tender moments they had shared before her death. Morrie's mother had operated a candy store until her illness had made it impossible to do so.

Morrie recalls that the family had lived in a cramped and dismal-looking apartment behind the candy store. In due time, his father had remarried. Morrie's new stepmother was a gregarious and ebullient Romanian immigrant. She gave Morrie stability, guidance, and affection. Morrie shares that he still has in his keeping the telegram that announced his mother's death.