Let’s Talk About the Awkward Conversations—Because Aging Deserves Sandwich Chats
Heather Evanson Brooks
Sandwich Generation Chats Powered by How 2 Age Your Way | Aging Conversation Starter & Networker |
The conversations we avoid about aging today... Are the emergencies we regret tomorrow. So what’s stopping the Real Life Sandwich generation from speaking up?
What I’ve seen firsthand over the last 12 years both professionally as an Aging Specialist and personally being stuck in the middle of all of this...
No matter how many speaking events I’ve done for AARP Speakers Bureau, classes I teach at 55(+)/Active Adult Communities, stages I’ve spoken on, families I’ve worked with or professionals I’ve helped with marketing and connecting with their communities… the same moment keeps repeating itself.
Families are often left scrambling at the last minute not because they didn’t care, but because they didn’t prepare.
And that moment? It usually sounds like this:
We are the most overwhelmed, under-informed and often one crisis away from needing every service all at once. But underneath it all we are lacking the education, tools and awkward family conversations to help prepare all of us before it happens.
🥪 Let’s Declassify the “Sandwich Generation” for a Minute
After 12 years of working in this field and walking through it personally, I’ve come to realize:
The term “Sandwich Generation” doesn’t even scratch the surface. So... I made up my own menu. Because it’s not just about having kids. It’s about holding the emotional weight of caring for someone older, while still managing your own life, your own chaos and somehow staying sane in the middle of it. Over the years, I’ve met every kind of sandwich you can imagine. And here’s how I like to break it down:
🥪 The Club Sandwich The classic caregiver child or spouse that maybe juggling meds, meals and middle-of-the-night “just checking on you” texts.
🥪 The Open-Faced Sandwich The solo adult child or widower doing it quietly with no backup.
🥪 The Family Sandwich Platter The out-of-state child or the one in the middle of family drama.
🥪 The Sandwich Shop My SOI the trusted professionals and products I recommend to ANYONE who asks. If you’re featured on my website, it’s because I genuinely LIKE, KNOW, and TRUST you, your product or service.
🥪 The Word-of-Mouth Sandwich The hairdresser. The faith leader. The neighbor. Often a hidden lifeline.
🥪 The Stacked Sandwich Older couples facing big changes, like caregiving role or major medical changes and decisions.
🥙 The Fresh Start Wrap The ones ready to rightsize and reimagine what’s next before the crisis occurs and on their own terms.
So… which one are you? Or maybe, like most of us, you've worn more than one sandwich label over the years.
The point is... Aging touches all of us. Directly or indirectly and yet, we’re still whispering about it, still avoiding the “What happens next?” conversations. Still hoping we’ll deal with it later. But later always comes. And when it does, I see it come in form of a crisis.
When we normalize these awkward chats, families feel more prepared... professionals feel more aligned... and no one has to navigate aging alone “or” in the dark.
Help Me Keep the Conversation Going
If you’re in the aging space and you hear the same question over and over from families please tell me. Drop it in the comments or DM me.
I'll feature your insights as part of “my secret sauce” on Sandwich Generation Chats across TikTok , Instagram , Facebook and YouTube and I’ll make sure to tag you when I share it!
Let’s co-create the kind of education and real-life resources families are too overwhelmed to Google at 2am. Because these awkward-but-important conversations? They don’t have to be so hard.
Follow me @SandwichGenerationChats to see how simple, honest and empowering it can be and join me in making aging easier to talk about for everyone.