For 112-year-old veteran’s daughter, care is a labor of love

By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press/Report for America

Caring for her father, the nation’s oldest veteran, is a full-time job for Vanessa Brooks. The 112-year-old World War II veteran Lawrence Brooks lives with her in her New Orleans home. For years, she’s tried to balance her job as a neighborhood security patrol officer — the job that pays the bills — with her father’s needs. But as her father has aged, that balancing act has become trickier. Vanessa recently took indefinite leave from her job. Too young to begin collecting Social Security, she knows the loss of income will take a toll. But she considers caring for her father the most important job in the world.