In 1988 I flew to Switzerland to visit my son who was studying in Basel. The city is in the German-speaking part of the country and he'd spent the year before he left studying the language. He'd reserved a room for me in the same house he stayed and we spent a pleasant week traveling and sight seeing. Flying home it occurred to me that I'd been completely dependent on him while I was there. I didn't speak the language, so I couldn't order food. He'd...