MPW.67 / 2015 Seasons On Elmer's Farm by Christine Pearl
Photographer
Christine Pearl Washington DC

Team Lee

Story Summary

“How many acres did you clear?” 96-year old farmer Elmer asks when his son Larry comes through the door after a day in the field. Elmer's farming days are over, but as he fights through the difficulty of blindness and sitting inside the whole day, he remains connected to the bright world outside the door of his home in rural Perryville, Missouri.

Like many elderly in rural America, Elmer is spending the final days of his life with the assistance of in-home hospice and medical care. Larry wants to keep his father at home, because he does not want his father's final days spent at a skilled care facility.