for release December 29, 2000
The Sandwich Generation . . . Helping Your Aging Parents
by Carol Abaya, M.A.
Are you juggling doing errands for your aging parents, your children, yourself and working at the same time? Are you tired, stressed out and upset that your once vibrant parent is now frail and needy?
Do you feel alone? Rest assured you are not alone! The Sandwich Generation is dedicated to the 50 million Americans who may have elder/parent care concerns and/or responsibilities.
SMILE and LISTEN in The New Year
As the first year of the new millennium arrives, we take time to reflect on the past 12 months and say to our self "What Now?"
These thoughts pass through our mind regardless of our age. We might be in the traditional "sandwich," the "club" sandwich or the "open-faced" one. We might be the eldest generation and thinking about the "What Ifs."
So, I want to end the year by sharing some words of wisdom from the past. These sayings are found in a tiny brown book, "Quotations to Remember." My mother used the book for 50 years before passing it on to me. Many seem to reflect what we're all facing and seem to me to be very profound.
--"The inner half of every cloud is bright and shining. I therefore turn my clouds about, to always wear them inside out to show the lining," by Ellen Fowler.
--."Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world," by Cervantes.
--"The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditations on the past," by Andre Maurois.
--"To learn which work saves, one must rightly meditate on these three: doing, not doing, and undoing", in the bhagavad-gita, a book of Indian philosophy.
--"Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young," by Arthur Wing Pinero.
--"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action," by Benjamin Disraeli.
--"Believe that you possess significant reserve of health, energy and endurance and your belief will create the fact," by William James.
--"Life is the only real counselor, wisdom filtered through personal experience becomes a part of the moral tissue," by Edith Wharton.
--"Get away from the crowd when you can. Keep yourself to yourself, if only for a few hours daily," by Arthur Brisbane.
--"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood," by Marie Curie.
--"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards," by Soren Kierkegaard.
And then there are the fun thoughts from the little brown book as well as some I've come across in other places.
--"Life never becomes a habit to me. It's always a marvel," by Katherine Mansfield.
--"He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much," by Bessie Anderson Stanley.
--"The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well!"
--"You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely."
So, to all my readers across the country, "A Very Happy and Healthy New Year."
And remember I always love to hear from you.
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Do you have a question? Send it in. Although letters cannot be answered individually, appropriate letters will be answered in this column whenever possible. Letters may be edited. Send letters to Ms. Carol Abaya, c/o Name\Address of YOUR newspaper (or mail direct to her at PO Box 132,Wickatunk, NJ 07765-0132) or e-mail her at SandwchGen@aol.com.
Carol Abaya is an international-award-winning journalist and creator of the unique magazine The Sandwich Generation: You & Your Aging Parents.
NOTES TO EDITORS: text = 425 words; other material = 160 words
We would appreciate it if you would include the "Globe Syndicate" bug at the end of the column.
©2000 by Globe Syndicate, all rights reserved.