SANDWICH GENERATION

 

Image: Family Christmas Eve 1998

SANDWICH GENERATION by Gail K. Kachnycz on 14 August 2025

     Quite often, someone caring for an elderly parent also has children in the home. Being responsible for the care of both the old and the young can include difficulties, and those in the middle can feel sandwiched, or pressed, in more ways than one. For support and resources, please see these previous posts:

Introducing...A Boomer Hero 

How to Care for Aging Parents 

     Along with the responsibilities and concerns, there are advantages and benefits. Depending on their level of function, the grandparents and grandchildren can enjoy time together and "have an impact." My mother lived with us when my son Joshua was age two to eight years. He has given me permission to share this essay which he wrote in 6 th grade at age 11. Of course I am biased, but I think he was quite articulate. Helen was not his great-grandmother, but she was "great."

GREAT GRANDMOTHER by Joshua Kachnycz, November 2002

     My grandmother was always someone I looked up to, someone who was always there for me-up until December 7, 1999, but that is an entirely different story.

     My grandmother, Helen Kimbleton, has made a very large impact on my life. Here are some examples of ways that my grandmother has impacted me.

     When I was four and five I loved to have her read to me. This gave me my great adoration for reading, which I do every day. Every Thursday during the summer my grandma and I would go to the library and the playground across the street from it.

     The playground was typical with monkey bars, slides, poles, and basketball hoops. I would play there for hours upon hours in that playground. But there was one feature that most other playgrounds did not have that I loved the best. It was a baseball field where I could practice my swing. My grandmother and I might play catch or she would pitch to me and I would swing. This inspired me to spend most of my free time outside.

     My grandmother and I sometimes went on walks and planted some trees. She taught me how to take care of plants and gave me a baby tree which I named "Woody." He is still planted in the backyard of my old house. This motivated me to care more about nature.

     All of these things that my grandmother inspired me to do are things that I still do to this day so that her memory will live on in my heart.