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 Phil Callaway Multnomah Books From A Press Release Book Description Less than 100 years ago only one in twenty-five people lived to see their 65th birthday. Since 1960, life expectancy has risen by nearly ten years, to 77.8 years. The sociological impact has created families where middle-aged children are raising teens and caring for aging parents. In Family Squeeze: Tales of Hope and Hilarity for a Sandwiched Generation, best selling author Phil Callaway describes life in the middle. "We are parenting two generations now, wedged between the demands of elderly dependents and energetic teens - neither of whom thinks you know very much." For Callaway and the millions of other families facing similar challenges, caring for aging parents is often a matter of priority. "Honoring our aging parents means not despising them for the 'inconvenience' their age and fading health brings us," explains Callaway. "It means respecting their difficulties and shouldering their burdens." He believes the burgeoning generation of Golden Agers are often ignored and mostly overlooked. "We live in a culture that has managed to erase the elderly from our minds and consciences." In Family Squeeze, Callaway weaves the enormous challenges of care taking with the burden of guiding teens into their adult years. As a Christian comedian, he says you have to either laugh or cry and he prefers to find the humor where he can. "Sometimes laughter is our most effective weapon-perhaps the only one we have," says Callaway, "And it sure beats oat bran." One of the many problems with parenting two-generations is that by mid-life many find their vitality slipping at a time when they need it most. "At midlife, our bodies have simply stopped taking directions. In fact, they've gone on strike," explains Callaway. "'Feed me,' they whimper, feed me large hampers of cholesterol-stuffed ham and red meat." While Callaway chooses to look at the sandwiched years through comical lenses, he doesn't trivialize their significance. "We are - all of us - flawed creatures who make mistakes. Those of us who don't look like it are usually just craftier hypocrites. We live in a broken, fallen place among broken, fallen people. There is not a family that isn't dysfunctional, not a one of us that doesn't need forgiveness." In a world that encourages us to find ourselves or to feed our senses, Callaway reminds us about what matters most - family. About the Author: Described as "Dave Barry with a message," author, speaker, and television host Phil Callaway has written twenty books, many of them bestsellers and is a popular speaker at conferences, camps and marriage retreats, coaxing laughter and tears from audiences worldwide. Of his personal accomplishments he rates the following highest: shutting off the TV to listen to his children’s questions (twice), taking out the garbage without being told (once), and convincing his high school sweetheart Ramona to marry him (once). Buy: Family Squeeze: Tales of Hope and Hilarity for a Sandwiched Generation Return to the Dr. Laura Reading Corner |
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