ABSTRACT
During the hours she spends each afternoon without adult supervision, Jasmin Perry is surrounded by extended family and family friends. She can visit her Aunt Margaret who lives downstairs (“she’s always home”), as well as her Aunt Ann and Aunt Betty who live “across the yard.” If these aunts are not home, she can always call her mother or father on the telephone. The Perry family has a tradition of mutual support. Emilie Perry’s mother died when she was 5 years old, and the only mother she remembers is the aunt who left her nursing career to rear her and her five siblings. Emilie’s father “went through a lot to keep us. He worked two jobs throughout my childhood.” Emilie says that if she thinks Jasmin might be worried or sad about anything, “I try and talk to her. I tell her if she can’t talk to me, she’s got four aunts and a godmother down the street and she can talk to any of them.”
