This weekend I will be attending a family reunion on my mom’s side of the family.  As I prepare to go to the reunion, I am reminded again of the great blessings I have experienced in my life because my parents took care of my mother’s parents when they were no longer able to care for themselves.  I have written about my perceptions of that experience as a child in a “sandwiched” family in <em>Pass the Peanut Butter and Jelly: Inspirational Stories for Sandwiched Families</em>.  The following is an excerpt from that book:

At a family reunion a few years ago, I was talking with my cousins and realized many of them didn’t have a close relationship with my grandparents. In fact, they really didn’t even know my grandparents. They never had the opportunity to know their own family history and the legacy of my grandparents. As a result, my cousins missed out on . . .

• The warm, funny, totally zany moments of living in the altered reality of a grandparent who has had a stroke
• The frustrations of trying to negotiate life with grandma and her sense of thriftiness
• The rare moments of hearing poems recited from memory
• The quiet moments of shared solitude sitting by a hospital bed
• The triumph of completing a quilt with grandma
• The grasp of a grandparent’s hand seeking comfort from someone familiar

My parents gave me the irreplaceable gift of having a close, personal relationship with my grandparents. Admittedly, my parents paid a high cost to provide that opportunity for me. The good moments were accompanied by lots of struggles and frustrations. Physical and emotional exhaustion joined family gatherings. I knew at a young age what it was for another human soul to totally depend on you for care. My parents missed moments of relaxation and even moments of our lives at times. Yet, observing my parents care for my grandparents was a blessing and a memorable legacy.

Unknowingly, my parents taught us some of the greatest lessons of spiritual devotion and service when they were washing out bedpans and changing soiled linens. My parents still don’t recognize what a positive impact their devotion to my grandparents has made on the lives of the kids on the other side of the sandwich. My mom still occasionally apologizes to us for “neglecting” us when we were kids because she was caring for her parents. No matter what I say to my mom, she doesn’t seem to understand the positive impact her devotion to her parents had on me. One of the greatest legacies of caring for my grandparents was the deepening of spiritual faith.

Today, I once again celebrate the extraordinary examples my parents have been and continue to be as servants in the Kingdom!  I am blessed beyond measure.