As she nursed her mom through cancer and dementia, a tense relationship began to heal
Photographer Lori Grinker's relationship with her mom was strained for much of their lives. Lori recalls Audrey Grinker as a woman who had her kids very young and struggled to be a mother.
Their relationship had also been marked by loss; first her parents' divorce when Lori was 16, then the death of her brother from AIDS in 1996.
In 2015, Audrey, who already suffered from Crohn's disease, began to experience mysterious new health problems. She started mixing up her prescription medications, saying hurtful things to Lori, forgetting key details of their lives.
Lori didn't understand what was going on but she began to document her mother's life. It gradually became clear she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
In March 2020, Lori traveled to Florida to help Audrey move into an assisted living facility, a plan that was immediately upended with the arrival of nationwide lockdowns. In the next three months, Lori lived with Audrey in her apartment, sleeping in the same bed with her by night and teaching college classes remotely by day.
Lori also became a caregiver for her
