In my travels around the community, I often run into people in their 50’s or 60’s who are exhausted. In conversation, I discover that they are carrying on with their own lives, and caring for their elderly parent(s). The proposed Intergenerational Center is a ray of light and hope for them. But, it is not built yet. Everyone admits it would make their situation more tolerable. They want to care for their parent(s) who are in their late 80″s and 90’s, but for various reasons, it is challenging.
In the latest conversation I had, we ended up with, ‘ but where are we all going to go? ‘ We, the children of the elders. We don’t want to be in their situation but there is no place for us that is acceptable. We don’t want to end up in a nursing home, and most of us won’t be able to afford an Assisted Living Center. We don’t want to be surrounded by other old people.
And the problem is: there are a lot of us. It appears that we baby boomers have our heads in the sand, but we are invincible, aren’t we?