Guess who’s coming to dinner? Family meetings now include you and your children but with Mom or Dad sitting in too. The number of households where Mom or Dad has moved in with their adult children is climbing. Elder care issues are part of your daily considerations. You are constantly in the middle. Welcome to the sandwich generation.

More and more of us are still growing our family when Mom or Dad moves in to our house. Many couples remained after our ‘small group’ meeting at church to discuss the changes this situation presents. Everyone completely agreed that it completely alters the home environment.

Our group has been providing help making meals and serving food at church once a week. On the weekends we collect donations to support hot meals at the Aging Americans Center in our community. Folks can drop off or we will pick up donations. We discovered that many businesses and cube stores actually have a budget for supporting non-profit efforts in their community. This has been a huge boon.

We did several events to raise funds for the program. We sold chances to win hdtv plasma tvs during the past year. A kitchenaid food processor was the drawing prize for supporting businesses in town. Lots of small appliances were donated to our massive indoor bazaar including a delonghi space heater.

We all agreed that grandparents and teens disagree about who makes a good role model. Elders are capable of making some biting comments about how young people dress, what they eat, and who they have for friends. There is a vast difference between holiday visits to grandma’s house and sharing a bathroom all year round.

Now it is trips to soccer games and to the pharmacy to fill prescriptions. One menu is planned for family mealtime and another menu tailored to the grandparent. Special beverages and ingredients become important too.

We are continuing are efforts to support hot meals at the center. This winter we are adding home delivered meals for shut-in seniors. The food is all being prepared in the kitchen at the center. Volunteers transport the meals in their personal vehicles.

Everyone who volunteers knows that they deliver more than hot food. They are providing the nourishment of human contact. The volunteer may be the only companionship that person experiences all week. Our ‘small group’ is now reaching out to other circles like ours to combine our elder care efforts. We have a formed a vision team to look ahead to identify upcoming needs and consider solutions.

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