Three Mothers for Adilyn

From left to right, Mary Ann, and her daughter, Sherie, kiss goodbye outside Sharon’s home between Mary Ann’s shifts as a bus monitor in Excelsior Springs, Mo. Mary Ann monitors a bus for a local school for children with special needs.

From left to right, Sherie Adilyn, Mary Ann and Sharon pray before their evening meal that Sherie prepared. Sherie returned to Excelsior Springs two months ago after several years of battling a methamphetamine addiction and is working to repair her relationship with her daughter, Adilyn, her mother, Mary Ann and her grandmother, Sharon.

Adilyn Monroe, 9, relaxes on her great grandmother’s couch in a rare moment of solitude. Sharon is the matriarch of this family and her home is the gathering place for her family.

Sherie, left, and Adilyn, hang out on the hammock in the front yard of grandma Sharon’s home after school. Sherie and Adilyn are repairing their bond since she returned home two months ago after being diagnosed with terminal pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Adilyn, left, and Sherie spend time together making memories at the playground in the Mobile Home Park. Sherie is making up for leaving Adilyn in the care of her mom Mary Ann and her grandmother Sharon seven years ago when she was still addicted to drugs.

From left to right, Mary Ann, Sherie and Adilyn sit on the porch after Sherie finishes a tele-medicine appointment with her doctor where she was told she has a urinary tract infection and does not need to be hospitalized for kidney surgery. Adilyn has had mood swings since finding out that her mother is terminally ill. The family’s new kitten rests on Mary Ann while she examines her grandma Sharon’s favorite gnome that was knocked off during a family dance party.

Adilyn chats with her great grandmother, Sharon, after getting home from school. Sharon, a lifelong resident of Excelsior Springs, told her daughter Mary Ann that she would help care for Adilyn seven years ago when Adilyn’s mother left and Mary Ann was worried she wasn’t going to be able to care for her and work at the same time. “My mom is the best person in the whole world,” Mary Ann says.

Adilyn looks at her new kitten for the first time. The day before, a neighbor across the street, Mr. Yummy Pants, told her that he found a kitten that needs a home. Adilyn begged her great grandmother Sharon to adopt the kitten and the next day they surprised her with it when she returned from school. Sherie left, is Adilyn’s mother and Mary Ann, right, is Sherie’s mother. Everyone comes together to make Adilyn happy.

From left to right, Sherie, Adilyn and Sharon dance in their kitchen. They spontaneously have dance parties to popular Tik Tok rap songs or country music from Morgan Wallen.

Every Thursday, Mary Ann comes over to sort out the week’s pills for her daughter and her mother who have been living together for two months. Mary Ann has been monitoring her daughter’s health since they found out two months ago that Sherie is in Stage 3 of pulmonary arterial hypertension along with lung and kidney dysfunctions. Sherie’s PAH is genetic, yet years of methamphetamine addiction have advanced the disease rapidly.

Adilyn gets emotional as she rests her head on her mother, Sherie, who is terminally ill. Sherie had a urine analysis earlier in the day and told Adilyn she would have to spend a few nights in the hospital having kidney surgery. A few hours later the doctor called and said it was an infection that can be treated at home.

Adilyn applies her mother’s lipstick as a note from her mother is seen on the bathroom mirror. Adilyn wrote “I love you to” in lipstick in response to her mom’s note which said, “I love you Addy and gma Sharon.”