Sisters Jeanette and Tama McKinney were always opposites and don’t get along. Even so, they live together to care for their 87-year-old mother, Patsy McKinney. Between the three of them, they have ten small dogs, which bond them and add to the household workload. 

Patsy has lived in Union since some of the streets were still made of dirt.  In 2018, her daughters moved in to help as her husband of 65 years battled leukemia. Jim McKinney died in 2020. Although she would prefer to live alone with her four dogs, her daughters fear for her safety, especially since a bad fall left their mother badly bruised. 

Putting their mother in a care home was never an option. “They took care of us their whole lives, and now it’s our turn,” said Tama.

As they work opposite schedules, the sisters collaborate to fill their late father’s shoes, doing chores and filling up their mother’s car with gas because that’s what her husband used to do. Things are changing, though. At the end of the week, Jeanette will move down the road with her four dogs, to have her own space and lighten the burden on the household. The sisters will collaborate to provide care for their mother.