My photo essay on Diana Rose was as much of a story about a 5-year-old battling cancer as it was one on families. The Floyds completely let me in as not only a witness with a camera to the daily humdrum life, but also to big things like the first time Diana realized she was losing her hair. And who was by Diana’s side as she peered into the mirror? Her little sister, her shadow, Rebecca. I think Diana’s little sisters are what kept her upbeat. She’d come home from chemo, groggy and sick, and her little sisters would run and crawl circles around her.

Working on this story has been such a gift to me. It showed me that people can completely let a stranger in to witness their lives, to all the rawness and honesty and love. I’ve visited with the family years since Diana’s cancer in 2007. She is now cancer-free and little Laura, the youngest sister, went from a cryer who crawled around the trailer putting toys into her mouth, to a playmate that can keep up with Diana and Becky.

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Kendrick Brinson is a photographer who lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia.  Her column on Sisterhood appears every other Friday. She is a founding member of LUCEO. You can find her other columns on this subject here.