In West Virginia, there are nanas and nans, grams and grandmas, grannies, abuelas, and even some nonnas. But many of the grandmothers there, as in so much of Appalachia, are known as mawmaws—women who not only have grandchildren or great-grandchildren but who are their primary caregivers.
Grandfamilies, as these families sometimes call themselves, are almost always forged by tragic circumstances, whether abuse, neglect, addiction, arrest, or death. They exist everywhere in this country; nearly three million children in the United States are being raised by their grandparents, another way that older Americans are working longer, well beyond retirement age. The photographer Anthony Wilson (@bigtonewhippinwork) spent five years getting to know some of these women, and his new book, “Mawmaw,” is a tribute to them. At the link in our bio, see more of his work: www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-...