--- title: Taking Care: An Intimate Look at One Family's Life with Parkinson's description: “Taking Care” is a series intimately covering the lives of caregivers and the people they care for. This month’s edition is on Parkinson’s Disease canonical: https://time.com/3593442/parkinsons-disease-caregiving/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-24T12:00:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:01.223Z article:section: Health og:title: Taking Care: An Intimate Look at One Family's Life with Parkinson's Disease og:description: “Taking Care” is a series covering the lives of caregivers and the people they care for. og:url: https://time.com/3593442/parkinsons-disease-caregiving/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2a6c8f8cf5bf72d/69876978524fc0c628deacc8/abby-kraftowitz-eleanor-parkinsons-disease.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Eleanor Copeman, diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, at her home in Elkins, W.Va., on March 3, 2013. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Taking Care: An Intimate Look at One Family's Life with Parkinson's Disease twitter:description: “Taking Care” is a series covering the lives of caregivers and the people they care for. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2a6c8f8cf5bf72d/69876978524fc0c628deacc8/abby-kraftowitz-eleanor-parkinsons-disease.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Taking Care: An Intimate Look at How Parkinson's Disease Has Changed 1 Family's Life by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Nov 24, 2014 12:00 PM UTC  Eleanor Copeman, diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, at her home in Elkins, W.Va., on March 3, 2013. Eleanor Copeman, diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, at her home in Elkins, W.Va., on March 3, 2013.Abby Kraftowitz by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Nov 24, 2014 12:00 PM UTC When Eleanor Copeman was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, an incurable condition that gradually attacks the nervous system and impairs even simple movements, family life for the Copemans changed forever. The vibrant, joyful matriarch who loved cooking for her family became dependent on her husband Douglas and daughter Tammy for everything from preparing meals to getting dressed. Now, almost a decade later, Eleanor also has dementia, which strikes [50-80% of people with Parkinson’s](http://www.alz.org/dementia/parkinsons-disease-symptoms.asp). The physical and emotional burdens of caretaking fall to the family.  Eleanor Copeman sweeps the porch outside the family home as her daughter rides her horse toward the house in Elkins, West Virginia, on July 14, 2012. Abby Kraftowitz “Physically, taking care of someone with Parkinson’s is intense—you have to be on 24/7,” Tammy Copeman tells photographer Abby Kraftowitz, who has been documenting the Copemans’ lives since 2012\. “I think it’s just a whole different level of love and loving your family.” Douglas says he chose to take care of Eleanor at home to honor a promise he made to her 51 years ago when they first married. Kraftowitz’s work offers a deep look into life inside one household touched by this chronic disease. [_Abby Kraftowitz_](http://www.abbykraftowitz.com/) _is a photographer based in New York City. You can follow her on Twitter_ [_@abbykraftowitz_](https://twitter.com/abbykraftowitz)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3593442/parkinsons-disease-caregiving/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3593442/parkinsons-disease-caregiving/"},"headline":"Taking Care: An Intimate Look at How Parkinson's Disease Has Changed 1 Family's Life","datePublished":"2014-11-24T12:00:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:01.223Z","description":"“Taking Care” is a series intimately covering the lives of caregivers and the people they care for. 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