Balancing care for children and elderly parents.
June 2014 was a month of high summer and heavy transition. The world was watching the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, a global celebration that felt like the last gasp of a simpler international unity. For someone in their forties during that season, life likely felt equally vibrant and pressurized. At forty-something, you are the "bridge generation." In 2014, this meant having one foot in the analog past of paper maps and landlines, and the other firmly planted in the rapidly accelerating digital future. 40 Something – June 2014
The atmosphere of June 2014 was defined by a specific kind of connectivity. Smartphones had become ubiquitous, but they hadn't yet completely swallowed our attention spans. Social media was a place for sharing photos of summer BBQs rather than a primary source of existential dread. For the forty-somethings of that year, there was a sense of mastery. You were old enough to have professional stability and young enough to still feel the pull of ambition. It was the age of being "the grown-up in the room," navigating the needs of aging parents while raising children who were just starting to teach you how to use Snapchat. Balancing care for children and elderly parents
Technology was helpful but not yet overwhelming. For someone in their forties during that season,