My mother just completed her annual visit here to the Islands. She doesn’t stay at our house … she likes her own space. I won’t tell you how old she is. That would just be plain rude. But she is in good health and going strong. She finally got a cell phone (thanks to my sister). That gives me a great deal of comfort.

While mother was visiting, I tried to call her house phone a number of times. No answer. When I called the cell phone, she answered right away. And, other times when I left a message on her voicemail, she’d call back within minutes after she heard the message alert. Mother doesn’t have a computer. She doesn’t understand why anyone would sit all day in front of a keyboard. So the cell phone is the closest thing to modern technology she owns. But, as I said, it’s a comfort to me knowing that she can call my sister or me when she needs to.

Boomers like me are in a rather unusual situation. Happily, many of us still have parents who are part of our lives. We also have grown children we are still concerned about. Due to this common situation, Boomers are also called the “Sandwich Generation.” Frankly, I can’t think of a better title. A sandwich is a good thing. It provides comfort, it can be shared with others and there’s an endless variety.

I’m going to call my mother now. If she thought of me as a sandwich it would probably be “Ham on Wry.” Get it? Ham on … oh, well …