There are two key subjects in my film, but the main subject Sarah will feature more predominately as she has taken on the role of a full-time carer for her mother. Her husband Andrew acts as support, and he will feature to convey his concerns for his wife and express the changes in the household her new job has taken on. Audrey, however, will not physically appear within the production, as I intend on focusing entirely on the carer’s aspect. Also due to her declining condition and lack of space in her rooms for equipment of any sort, or a small group of people; this is due to her hoarding of furniture, which she brought will her upon her move to our home. She will however, feature via audio, which will help to convey the relationship between mother and daughter via the language they use.
My grandmother, Audrey (left), myself, and my mother Sarah (right) in late 1993.
Sarah was born in Birmingham in 1965 to Audrey and John Butler. She has two older brothers, Stephen and Chris. Sarah married her husband Andrew in the early 90s, and together they have one child, myself, Bea. Together they live in Halesowen.
Sarah has always been close with her mother, having shopped for her, aided her in delivering payment of bills, driving her to the various homes where Sarah’s autistic brother Chris had moved to and from, and taking here where she has needed to go for over 30 years considering her mother, Audrey, has never been able to drive. Sarah’s parents had a strained relationship, which lead to her mother avoiding her husband by locking herself away in her separate bedroom lest she see him and begin yet another vicious argument. This meant Sarah, from a very early age, had to tend to household jobs such as cooking and cleaning for herself and her family, as well as completing her school work. Up until the eventual day of her mother moving into her family home, Sarah would spend almost 2 hours a night, every night, on the phone to her mother. Clearly, Audrey has always been a big presence in her life.
For over 20 years, Sarah had various roles at Sainsburys. She first began in the bakery, and spent the majority of her career as a baker of various sweets and cakes. However, ten years ago the opportunity to move into a differing area of the cooperation arose, and Sarah decided to take it. For numerous years, Sarah moved from managerial job to managerial job, ranging from canteen manager to customer services manager. It is this role that gave her a wide variety of responsibilities, but the intense hours this role came with worsened her already problematic health issues; Sarah has long suffered from arthritis, and will soon require operations on various joints in her body. It was also this customer facing role that acted upon her social anxiety, intensifying her depression. Towards the end of her career in Sainsburys, Sarah suffered a severe swelling on her ankle. Sainsbury’s only offer of aid was to grant her a job an additional 31 miles away on top of her daily 2 mile journey to an office in Coventry, which would supply her with rest off her feet and a managerial role with her regular pay. Sarah took this job, but with her health still suffering both physically and mentally, she took numerous months off work to recover.
For years, Sarah dreamed of a time where she would no longer need to work, and would be able to spend her days at home tending to her family, her pets and her hobbies. It was during these months away from work that Sarah decided to leave her job, and attain that life for her own sake, both mental and physical.
However, Sarah had spent the past two years trying to persuade her mother into moving in with her, where she could spend her time with her family. Audrey had been living alone in Harbourne for two years since the death of her husband John, and moved to Halesowen to be closer to Sarah and her family, who at the time lived in the same road. Her son Stephen, and his wife Lynn, lived in the house beside Sarah at the end of the road. However, in 2010, Sarah and her family moved across town to a house and environment better suited to their needs. For 7 years, Sarah would visit her mother after work to deliver shopping, pay bills, tend to various household jobs, and would then venture to her home every Tuesday from mid-2017 to support her during nurse visits for her lymphedema.
Towards the end of 2017, Sarah ventured to Audrey’s house every day. Often Audrey would call and ask for help moving so she could go to the bathroom, or even for aid in getting out of a chair. During these times, Audrey would be unable to get onto the stair lift on her own, having fallen down the stairs numerous years ago and fracturing her leg, in order to get to bed. This meant Audrey was sleeping and living on her sofa. It was during these few weeks that Audrey finally decided to move in, but by now, she was far too weak to move of her own accord, and this meant that Sarah would become her full-time carer.
Sarah now aids her in the care and treatment of her various health issues; lymphedema, reynauds, gall stone related gall bladder issues, heart failure, low blood sugar levels and past hypothermia.
As Sarah rarely leaves the home as she intends on being by her mother’s side, or in close proximity, 24/7 in case her health suddenly and rapidly declines, Sarah is frequently available, and so reliable. Although she spends a great deal of time shut away with her mother, this gives me the chance to capture audio shared between them, conveying their somewhat changed relationship from daughter/mother to full time carer/patient. She is readily available to shadow and observe via camera when preparing various food items etc for her mother, during the rare occasions in which she is able to sit down for a cup of tea, and attend shopping trips. However it is the latter that may be somewhat limited. Due to her husband Andrew’s work pattern, I as the director/camera operator will be required to tend to my grandmother and await any calls she may make to my phone should she need my aid. This means that I will be unable to follow the subject on her shopping trips, as my grandmother cannot be left home alone. But as these shopping trips have become increasingly rarer, I am finding a great deal more reliable opportunities in which I am able to shadow and observe my subject as she tends to her mother.
Andrew was born in Langley in 1962, and lives at home with his wife and daughter in Halesowen.
For over 30 years, Andrew has worked a stressful and strenuous job that requires differing shifts. Due to these work hours, Andrew feels his health both physically and mentally has been greatly affected. On top of the stress of his job, he has witnessed the strain and struggles his wife Sarah has suffered day in day out in regards to her work, her health and now her role as full time carer to her mother. Andrew regularly aids in the care of her mother, helping her move her up or down the bed, a two-person job, and by tending to her when I myself am at university and my mother out shopping. He does however regularly display his concerns, and it is these concerns I wish him to express in my documentary, Mothercare.
Due to his shifts at work, Andrew is less reliable in terms of attaining interviews or observational footage on his aid in Sarah’s care of her mother. However, as I am aware of his shift pattern for the following few months and potentially beyond, I am able to assess when he is available to for filming, and can organise days in which he can ensure are free in order to attain the footage I require.
