There is a growing group of adults who find themselves pressed between two sets of needs at once: children who still depend on them and parents who are beginning to. They are the sandwich generation, and if you are among them, you already know the particular weight of it.
The demands are real - time, money, and emotional energy pulled in two directions, often while holding down a career. What gets squeezed out, almost always, is care for oneself. And that is precisely the mistake that makes the rest unsustainable.
The families who navigate this season best tend to do a few things in common: they ask for help before they are desperate, they lean on community and professional resources rather than going it alone, and they guard a little time for themselves without apology. You cannot pour from an empty cup - and no one is served by a caregiver who has run dry.
Originally published in View AZ Highlife Magazine, Aug / Sep 2007.