AARP Hearing Center
.jpg?anchor=17,8&q=80&color=ffffffff&u=8wsalu&w=375 "Fall Movie Preview 2026")
Film Focuses on Family Caregiving
Lawyer turned caregiver turned screenwiter discusses her film Relative Control.
Getty Images
About 20 years ago, Delaware attorney Charlene Davis found herself in a situation faced by millions of adult sons and daughters: Her aging parents needed help. Thomas and Ruth Dwyer, then in their 80s, required support, health care and comfort. Davis was the only one available to provide it.
She moved them to an independent living apartment nearby and began a saga of caregiving, home aides and other assistance. It took a toll on both her pocketbook and her psyche. She thought that it was her turn. But it was tough.
More Ways to Benefit
- Related Benefit 1
- Related Benefit 2
- Related Benefit 3
- Related Benefit 4
- Related Benefit 5
Her parents each lived to 95, her dad dying six years before her mom.
But for Davis, the story wasn’t over. She wrote the screenplay and executive produced a film about her experience as a family caregiver, which was made into the movie Relative Control.
Ahead of National Family Caregivers Month in November, the Bulletin interviewed Davis about her experiences. Davis, who lives in Rockland, says that caring for aging parents comes with some rewards. “In the best of all possible cases, it can make you feel closer to your parents than at any time other than when you were a child,” she says.
About 24 percent of adults in Delaware are family caregivers, according to the report Caregiving in the U.S. 2025: Caring Across States.
Now retired from lawyering but still writing screenplays, Davis, 80, says more resources are available today than when she was a family caregiver—but it’s still tough. “If you are doing everything you can, you are doing well,” she says. “You have to be kind to yourself to be kind to your parents.” Relative Control, which AARP Delaware has streamed for members before, is available on popular streaming services.
Go to aarp.org/DEcaregiving.
More From AARP