HEALTH, TRAVEL, SPORTS, FOOD
More Inside:
Travel: A bit of Provence
in the Galilee.
Food: A bite of Americana
or summer days.
Taking
care o f
their
children
and their
parents
surprises
the baby
boomers.
Lessons in caring:
Sheldon Litman,
Phyllis Schwartz and
Dolores Greenspan.
RENA FULKA
Special to The Jewish News
A
t 59, Sheldon Litman often feels over-
whelmed juggling responsibilities as
an . office manager, as father of 17-
year-old Josh, and care giver of his
95-year-old father, Max.
Max is in good physical condition but suffers
from short-term memory loss. So Litman and
his wife, Donna, tend to Max's homemaking,
bill paying, prescription filling and appointment
arranging. They also make sure that Max gets to
shul every Saturday.
"You just have to make time," said Litman, a
Farmington Hills resident and member of Con-
gregation B'nai Moshe. "He took care of me
when I was growing up. We're trying to keep
him independent as long as we can."
Welcome to the "sandwich generation."
Litman is like many baby boomers who were
born after 1945 and now are caught between
the needs of growing children and aging par-
ents. More and more older adults are finding
themselves "sandwiched" between two or three
generations that simultaneously vie for their
time, care or attention.
During her nine years as director of Senior
Services at Jewish Family Service, Phyllis
Schwartz has witnessed one multigenerational
care-giving scenario after another. "People are
having children later in life, and taking care of
older parents and young children as they are