More than 2.5 million grandparents across the country serve as primary caregivers for their grandchildren, often due to divorce, teen pregnancy, drug addiction or incarceration. Sometimes it’s because parents die. Whatever the reason, raising grandkids can be a struggle, but for many grandparents it also brings unexpected joy.

Producer Megan Kamerick has this portrait of one grandmother in Albuquerque experiencing the highs and lows of raising her autistic grandson, and the decision she had to make when she discovered they weren’t actually related.

Featured image by Megan Kamerick