Late-in-Life Mom Reality Check

I realize I am now part of the "Sandwich Generation"--and I am a Club Sandwich.


Reality struck as I sat in the cardioligist's office with my mother-in-law, trying to digest a rather unpleasant diagnosis. Hers, not mine. I also watched the clock because I had to pick up Christa from school by 3 p.m.


Truth be told, my mother-in-law is an amazingly independent 89-year-old woman. But with just a few brief phrases from a specialist, some medical questions marks now loom in her life. "This is a bit of a shock," she said as I drove her home. For this stoic woman, that is the closest I've ever seen her to panic.


By this time, Christa was in the car, so I juggled the needs of my 6-year-old with my mother-in-law's. Chatted about Christa's day in first grade while discussing my mother-in-law's tests scheduled for next Tuesday. And I also thought about telling my three older children--one who lives across the country with his new wife.


Mother-in-law.
Older children.
Caboose kiddo.

A Club Sandwich in the Sandwich Generation.


This is not a complaint. This is a reality check. A "Welcome to your world" moment. It may take me a while to adjust. But I will. And so will my husband, who is even more affected by this news. This is, after all, his mother. We'll figure this out together--all of us.

That's what families do.