In this chapter, I pull together the overall analytic venture by focusing on two care relationships. The dyads selected for this chapter are of distinct configurations of care relationships: one of spouse care (Bob and Janice) and one of filial care (Pam and Betty).

To begin, both care dyads are set out in detail, indicating the biographical details of each participant. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the discursive strategies that the participants deploy in talk about each other, their relationship and the difficulties therein. Accounts from both participants of the dyad are presented in parallel, giving a feel for the range of descriptions (positions, storylines and repertoires) that were drawn on to construct the ‘same’ relationship.

Given the often contested nature of the details of the relationship, in each instance I make an explicit statement as to whose opinion is being represented, be that a member of the care dyad, or my own. Where constructions differ between participants, this is explored with the discursive analysis, and theorised in terms of the subsequent impact on the relationship itself. Again, I wish to underline the point that the focus on difficulties is not intended to mark these participants out as peculiar in the ways they talk about their relationships. Rather, the analysis highlights how troubles are worked up in very ordinary and matter of fact ways that can be identified in all manner of conversations and relationships in many different contexts.

The dyads’ accounts of care are representative of the range of interviews in terms of the discursive strategies that participants employed. These two specific dyads have been selected because they offer very powerful constructions of the difficulties in their relationships. This is not to say that the tensions are necessarily any greater than in other relationships; but that the manner in which they are articulated is noteworthy since they have the potential to elicit contact from health/social care professionals and impact so markedly on their own identity construction. Previous chapters have drawn heavily on other dyads so that comparisons between these dyads and others can be made by the reader. This chapter mimics practitioner involvement, to some extent, by presenting examples of differing perspectives on one relationship from both parties.