In the Care of a Stranger

Many sick or elderly people spend years of their lives in the care of home health aides, dependent on their caregivers to assist with everything from showering to eating. Patients are often angry about their physical dependency; their caregivers may have any number of mixed feelings about their clients. Rare is the story of a deep and close bond. But when Cathy, a middle-aged mother with multiple sclerosis, met Valerie, a bookish loner who just needed a job, the two became like sisters. Cathy and Valerie spoke with The New Yorker’s Rachel Aviv about forging intimacy between strangers.