Welcome to the Sandwich Generation (A Guest Post)

A couple of decades ago, when I was a young newspaper reporter in Bentonville, Ark., the features editor at the next desk wrote an article about the Sandwich Generation.

This label, I learned, refers to middle-aged people who are juggling the responsibilities of caring for their growing children while also supporting their aging parents. In my early 20s and newly married, I could hardly comprehend the notion that I might be a part of this demographic some day.

But I never forgot the term.

For some reason, it made me think of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich—bread and filling stuck firmly together, a nice tidy package. These days, though, as I find myself firmly squished in the middle, it feels more like tomato, avocado and lettuce on 21-grain bread.

I love this tasty combination, especially when the tomatoes are liberally sprinkled with garlic salt. But it doesn’t always hold together well. When I take a bite, pieces of tomato and avocado squirt out the sides. The seeds in the bread get stuck in my teeth. It’s a bit of a slippery mess.

For me, right now, this epitomizes what it’s like to be part of the Sandwich Generation. Depending on what’s going on, my mental and emotional state often runs the gamut from joy to frustration, peace to exhaustion, gratitude to sadness. (I’ve even made the dizzying discovery that it’s possible to experience all of these at the same time.)

I recently wrote about this for one of my new favorite blogs, The Perennial Gen: Growing Deeper Roots in the Dirt and Light of Midlife. To read the rest of my post, please click here.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with Purposeful Faith, Coffee for Your Heart, Faith on Fire, Fresh Market Friday, Faith ‘n Friends and Grace & Truth.

Photo by Diego Duarte Cereceda on Unsplash