Tag Archives: family

“The Family” of Gardiner Maine came together out of necessity. This group of young adults, ranging from 14 to 30 years of age, developed a kinship with one another, a relationship that grew out of the common experience of troubled home lives. Spending their time in the small city square, or in bars or apartments, The Family, as they came to call themselves, became a source of consistency in their day-to-day lives.

Alecia Wall and her son, Mason Tibbs, know about struggle. Mason has Chorea, a rare disease that affects his ability to control the movements of his body. In addition, Mason is almost continually sick, having pneumonia for all but three weeks in 2004. “It’s always life and death with Mason when he gets sick,” says Alecia.