Known locally as the Walking Brothers, Bob “Bobby” Clemmens and Ron “Ronnie” Clemmens are inseparable. They spend every day walking the streets of Alameda, California, waving and chatting with everyone who passes by. They share similar intellectual and developmental disabilities, but that has never slowed them down.

Bobby and Ronnie joke around together outside of Ole’s Waffle Shop in Alameda on Sunday, June 4, 2023.

Bobby (right) and Ronnie (left) drink their first Coke Zero as they do their rounds on Park Street in Alameda on Saturday, June 3, 2023.

Katriene Johnson says hello to Ronnie and Bobby as she walks her dog, Diesel, in Alameda on Monday, June 5, 2023. “I see these guys walking around all the time,” says Johnson. “Diesel loves them.” They stopped to chat for a few minutes and Bobby talked about the band they’re starting.

Ronnie and Bobby look into the window of a vacant house during a walk around their neighborhood in Alameda on Sunday, June 4, 2023. The brothers say they are on the hunt for a place to rent. They live with their older brother Charlie, who is trying to help them find a place on their own. They have been sharing the same two bedroom apartment for twenty years.

Ronnie puts his hand on Bobby’s shoulder in Alameda on Sunday, June 4, 2023. The brothers are very affectionate with one another, leaning on each other when they laugh, which happens every few minutes.

Ronnie (left) and Bobby (right) watch the news in Ronnie’s bedroom in Alameda on Monday, June 5, 2023. After a long day of walking, the brothers wound down by watching the news and then a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory. Ronnie has boxes of DVDs and CDs in his room, stacked to the ceiling on two walls. Neither of them can read or write, so the brothers love to consume visual media and listen to music.

Bobby (left) and Ronnie (right) help their older brother, Charlie, load groceries into the trunk of his car in Alameda on Monday, June 6, 2023. Charlie has been their caretaker since their mother passed away twenty years ago and he provides everything for them. Even at eighty years old, he works two days a week as as a parking enforcement officer for the city. “You know what the big expense is? Feeding them!” says Charlie. On top of bills and food, Charlie gives them around $1,000 a month to give them the freedom to “go get coffee and go when they want.”

Charlie watches T.V. in their home in Alameda on Monday, June 5, 2023. His younger brothers each have a room in their two-bedroom apartment, and Charlie has made a makeshift room in the living room. Since Bobby and Ronnie are unable to be left unsupervised for more than a day, Charlie’s social life and travel have suffered since he took them in. Once I ended up with them, I knew it was pretty much over.” Ronnie and Bobby have also regressed over the years due to their age. “I used to be able to go for a day or two and now I can’t even do that.”

Charlie smiles as his younger brothers eat dinner in their home in Alameda on Monday, June 5, 2023. “I’m pretty much Mom and Dad. My whole life I’ve been taking care of them, in a way,” says Charlie. However restricting it can be, Charlie doesn’t mind. “Around them, it’s impossible for me to have a bad day,” Charlie says.