Making Smiles From Sandwiches

When I heard about the sandwich generation for the first time, I assumed I was part of it.  I, being the fourth of five children, had parents a little older than most of my friends' parents, and I, being a late starter having children, am the parent of a teenager.  So I am sandwiched between  having the privilege of helping my mom out when I can and running my daughter hither and yon.

When I allowed myself to delve a little deeper, though, I realized that every generation is a sandwich generation - my generation just thinks of it through more of a me-centered prism.  I never gave it a second thought when my grandmothers lived with us while I was growing up.  Multiple generations living together used to be a way of life, and it was a way of life that benefited everyone.

More families with two breadwinners have definitely made it more difficult for everyone to live together, but there is still no shortage of families caring for children and assisting with the needs of aging parents at the same time.  I think we just look at it much more now from the perspective of the stress it places on the caregivers, and rightly so.  Faster paced lives, more activities, the need to be everywhere at once - it can all seem just too much.

While caregiving is a great responsibility, it is also such a gift!  I wouldn't trade my days of playing cards with my mother's mother or sitting next to her at church stroking the fox fur around her neck while she slipped me cherry lifesavers; nor would I give up my memories of sitting at my father's mother's vanity playing with the bright red lipstick and stark white powder while she cooked cornbread and beans for dinner.  

Timesavers came to be from a very specific philosophy - when we are able to help families who are stretched too thin from a time standpoint, and when we find the right caregivers to build a trust relationship with our clients, we are enhancing the lives of both our clients and our caregivers.  We are a service based in finding the ways to make a family's time spent with loved ones the very best of times, the times from which their memories will bring smiles for years and generations to come.  We are a service intended to make the difference that matters.