In November 2009 Jana Panarites was scrambling to make ends meet in LA, despite a lifetime of working hard and having recently earned a master's degree from the University of Southern California. Her career spiraling out of control, she didn't think life could get any worse until she learned of her father's sudden death two days before Thanksgiving.

She flew east for the funeral, and was forced to confront her future head-on at the sight of her devastated eighty-year-old mother. After living her entire adult life in LA and New York City, the second generation Greek-American decided...