Issue link: http://hvparent.uberflip.com/i/574957
18 Hudson Valley Parent ■ October 2015 When her pregnant daughter needed a place to stay the following year, Minerley said "I couldn't say no." She has even told her son that if he has trouble fi nding a job after college, he is welcome, too. "There's something nice about having every- one you love under the same roof," she said. But as Sam Vicinanza of Hopewell Junction found out, sometimes being part of the sandwich generation doesn't mean that everyone that mother was struggling to take care of a home that was too big for her. Minerley says it took some convinc- ing, and that her mother referred to it as "only temporary" for a long time before deciding to fi nally sell her home and accept her new living situation. When she fi nally did, Minerley found that it was a relief to no longer have to worry about what might happen to her mother if she was on her own. By DAWN GREEN W hat image pops into your mind when you hear the word "family?" For most modern-day Americans, than image probably looks like two parents, some kids, and maybe a dog. But for four families in the Hudson Valley, that image is changing. Like millions of other Americans, they're joining what's known as the "sandwich generation." The sandwich generation, or the group of Americans who are caring for both their children and their parents, is growing. According to the Pew Research Center in 2012, 15 percent of adults aged 40-60 in this country fi t into this category. With the number of Americans over 65 expected to double by the year 2030, the sandwich generation is expected to expand. And with it, our notions of what and whom a typical family includes will be expanding as well. The many faces of the sandwich generation Irene Minerley of Red Hook lives in a home that spans four genera- tions. She lives with her 87-year-old mother, her husband, her 28-year- old and 26-year-old daughters, and her 2-year-old grandson. She invited her mother to live with her in 2010, after realizing her Stuck in the middle with you Local parents who've joined the 'sandwich generation' "There's something nice about having everyone you love under the same roof," said Irene Minerley, shown here with (from L to R,) Bette Bassik, Irene, Stephanie Minerley, and her grandson Damian.