Hi, welcome to The Gen Sandwich! I’m Jenna.
I’m a mom of two, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, friend, software engineer, former elementary school teacher, and perennially struggling gardener. I write about the strength and struggle of being part of the sandwich generation, and gather tools to help each member of this complex sandwich thrive.
In 2018, at the age of 34, my husband and I welcomed our beautiful first child, a baby girl. In many ways, I still felt too young to become a mother, although my biological clock said otherwise. My own mother had me, her first child, at the age of 34, so I guess that’s the magic number in our family! Getting pregnant with my daughter was easy and I didn’t truly understand the pain of infertility. That changed when I struggled to have our second child. Six years later, at the age of 40, the struggle was over and we welcomed an amazing baby boy!
Before our son was born my father was battling pancreatic cancer, and we were all thrilled when he responded to treatment and went into remission. After the birth though we got the sad news that Dad’s cancer had returned, and spread, into stage four cancer. My mother’s physical health is fairly good, although her cognitive decline is a growing concern for us all. My father-in-law sadly passed away years ago, and my mother-in-law is in thankfully good health! She recently needed a knee replacement and is facing another, but otherwise is doing well.
I am currently the breadwinner in our family and am lucky enough for my husband to be home with our youngest right now. That does create a pressure on me to make sure I keep my job performance high. I am motivated to do that anyway but the truth is I can’t afford not to! There is also the pressure of parenting my two young ones well, helping my parents navigate their health and personal challenges, keeping my marriage strong, trying to maintain my own health, and staying in tune with the part of myself that isn’t tied to any of my titles or roles.
This isn’t a sandwich for the faint of heart! I do believe it can be a joyful life. But just like there’s a thin line between joy and hate, there’s a delicate balance between fulfillment and burnout. Part of why I’m writing this blog is to trace my own journey and connect with others on theirs. I’m also writing it to continually become a better version of myself and truthfully to organize my own thoughts! I’ll think “Oh, I have to open that new travel card to help fund our family trip”, “Those scams have been going around, how can I warn Mom and Dad?”, “What different alternatives to screen time can we think of?”, or “How can I hold onto joy when I’m seriously stressed out?”. So I write my thoughts and learnings down and share them here, with you.
I think community, education, and action are the powerful ingredients we have to make one hell of a sauce for this sandwich.
So glad you’re here.
-Jenna