Story and slideshow by KEITH LAMAR McDONALD

Visit with the Long/Leon family.

Vince Long talks about his grandmother between puffs of a Camel cigarette on his front porch.

“She’s more like my mom than my mom is,” Long said. “My mom always worked so I was with grandma all the time. … I remember getting busted by her as a kid when I climbed on the fridge to get a toy that got taken from me.”

Long has lived with his maternal grandmother, Eva Leon, intermittently for about 10 years.

Leon, a South High School graduate who turned 75 in May 2014, still lives in the same neighborhood in which she grew up. In fact, her current home is directly across the street from the two-bedroom triplex she and her 10 brothers and sisters grew up in with their parents.

“I’ve worked all my life,” said Leon in a phone interview. “My first job was at Engh Floral on Main Street. We used to transplant flowers.”

Now Leon works at Smith’s Marketplace in the deli section. This August will mark her 19th year with the company.

She said the job at the downtown location is fun, but times have changed since she was growing up in Salt Lake City.

“Families are smaller now,” Leon said.

As one TRAX line after another zips north and south past the 900 South 200 West train stop in front of their home, Long sinks into a lawn chair and discusses his family history and his relationship with his roommate — who happens to be four decades his senior.

He said Leon traveled with her sister Barbara to Florida when she was 18. Her four sisters followed and all of them but one ended up marrying a Floridian. Leon moved back to Utah in 1978 when her husband died. Two of her children stayed in Florida and two came with her to Utah.

Long said he and his grandmother get along well, but mostly because they have been living together for a long time and are used to each other’s ways.

They enjoy watching TV, eating together and playing gin rummy. As a member of the LDS Church Leon has worked with the Relief Society as well. It’s hard to decipher who needs whom more.

“I think about moving a lot but when I‘m out of town I worry about her being home alone,” Long said.

For some aging Utah residents, turning 65 doesn’t mean retirement or a rest home; it means the start of a new career or the beginning of another chapter in life. The term retired doesn’t apply to those who never stop working, never stop being active members of their families, churches and communities.

The US Census Bureau estimates that approximately 57, 866 people aged 65 or older live in Utah. This is about 9 percent of the population of the state.

Sometimes families are thrust together at a moment’s notice and drastic changes and compromises have to be made.

In 2012, Will and Anna Hatton moved into the Salt Lake City home of Anna’s great-aunt Carla Fisher, when she went on an LDS mission to Fort Wayne, Ind., for 20 months. That arrangement helped the couple focus on completing college and starting their new family, rather than having to find real estate agents and secure a home loan.

Fisher had returned from her mission by the time Anna graduated from the University of Utah in fall 2013 with a degree in communication. Will graduated in spring 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. The transition from being single, to being a couple, to being the parents of a boisterous 18 month-old daughter who are living with their great-aunt was something that took getting used to.

Anna remembers her great-aunt teaching elementary school. Fisher taught first through fifth- grade classes at Indian Hills Elementary and wrote some of the LDS Church curriculum for primary children.

She said Fisher, 75, has always had a lot of energy.

“She loves helping people,” Anna said. “She helps women that are younger than her with less health problems,” Anna said.

Anna credits her great-aunt’s longevity to eating well, staying active and her LDS values.

“She’s never drank or smoked and she’s always eaten healthy. She eats like a bird,” Anna said.

Fisher may require help accomplishing tasks like lifting heavy objects and yard work, but she still exerts her independence.

“She is very stubborn. She still climbs ladders,” Anna said.

Will said he doesn’t necessarily think that the difficulties they face are generational.

“I don’t think it’s living with an aging person; it’s living with a roommate,” he said.

“The least amount of [drama] the better. She comes from a different mindset, a lifestyle that she’s made for over 50 years,” Will said. “She’s never been married. She has different cleaning habits [than we do]…. It’s a balancing act.”

The Hatton family plans to move to Atlanta in summer 2014 to find jobs. While they are looking forward to making a new life for themselves, they will always appreciate the things Fisher has done for them and others.

“It’s been a great privilege to live in this house,” Will said. “It’s given me a real interesting perspective of being a homeowner.”

As far as living with an aging person, he said that the benefits are a product of wisdom.

“Everyone has a perspective,” he said. “Aging people may have a fuller perspective on the world [than younger people]. I don’t think it’s better or worse but it is more experienced.”

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Story and slideshow by NICHOLE BUTTERS

Meet Claire and some of her extended family.

For Claire, raising a family of 15 children in Murray, Utah, has taught her firsthand how to care for and support her children. Now a widow at 86, her children are repaying the favor.

They help her with her daily needs, but they also are the caregivers of their own families. They are members of the Sandwich Generation.

The Sandwich Generation is a term used to describe adults who are supporting a family and are the sole caregivers of their parents or in-laws. According to caregiver.com, “the caregivers find themselves squeezed in between providing for younger loved ones such as children and their older parents or other older family members.”

Some sources also believe that the Sandwich Generation feels pressured into caring for their parents. According to Investopedia, “The sandwich generation is named so because they are effectively ‘sandwiched’ between the obligation to care for their aging parents who may be ill, unable to perform various tasks or in need of financial support, and children who require financial, physical and emotional support.”

This trend is becoming more and more common across the country. In a January 2013 study by the Pew Research Center, “nearly half (47 percent) of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent age 65 or older and are either raising or financially supporting a child. About one in seven middle-aged adults (15 percent) are providing financial support to both an aging parent and a child.” The percentage is expected to increase to as much as 60 percent in the next decade.

Louis, 43, is Claire’s youngest child (the family asked that their last name not be published). He knows firsthand what it means to provide for his own family as well as his aging mother.

Living only a few feet away from each other, Louis and Claire’s homes currently share the same acre-lot property. Claire’s home is where Louis grew up as a child.

“It makes it easy to check on her and to make sure she has everything she needs,” Louis said. “I’m grateful she is still around, that we still have her in our lives.”

While Louis isn’t working as a plumber, he is at home checking in with his mom every day to ensure her needs met. Because it is difficult for Claire to attend to household chores and yard work, Louis steps in. He regularly keeps the yard groomed, tends to the pets, checks the oil in the cars and takes care of any household maintenance work. He recently built a new laundry room in his mom’s home right next to the kitchen so she would have easier access to the washer and dryer.

“I appreciate all of my kids’ love and support,” Claire said. “It means the world to me when they visit and help as I get older, and I always enjoy their company. Sometimes you feel invincible like you can do everything, and then you realize that old age doesn’t always allow that.”

Being this close, however, can create some tension within the family. The Sandwich Generation takes care of finances, medication, meals and scheduling for both their older dependents as well as their own families, which can be a struggle for two families to juggle.

“It can be tough to have so much responsibility,” Louis said. “You get so used to your parents taking care of you, and you forget that they need you just as much when they get older. I work to support my wife and daughter every day, but also need to be there for my mom just as much.”

Louis soon realized that time management is key in this unique situation. “The real challenge is finding that balance,” he said. “Making sure that everyone in my household is healthy, happy and comfortable.”

While the balancing can be difficult for caregivers, “the challenges to elders are just as daunting,” according to the self-help site Sandwich Generation. “To lose control of one’s life, even the little things can be shocking and frustrating. … As more baby boomers become both sandwich generationers and seniors, the need to understand aging dynamics and family relationships increases dramatically.”

Claire said, “No matter what age you are, you never want to be a burden to your family. It can be hard to accept their help, even when you truly need it. But allowing your family to serve you blesses them as well.”

For the millennial generation, it is easy to see those blessings. Claire’s grandkids have the opportunity to spend more time with their grandma and learn from her experiences. Kristy, 23, is one of Claire’s 37 grandchildren. “Now that I’m married and have a baby, I realize how lucky I am to not only have the support of my grandma, but also be able to see her so often,” she said. “She was there at my wedding, and all of us know that if we ever need her, she’s just a phone call away.”

Kristy said that Claire, her daughters, grandkids and great grandkids regularly get together at Mimi’s, Village Inn and Marie Calendars throughout the week to talk and catch up.

Kristy will most likely become a “sandwich generationer” at some point in her lifetime. Peter Hebertson, information and referral program manager with Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services, said, “Most women in the US will be caring for her parents or in-laws at some point in her life, and may also be raising children at the same time.”

According to caregiver.com, “the typical American Sandwich Generation Caregiver is in her mid-forties, married, employed and cares for her family and an elderly parent, usually her mother.” Delle, one of Claire’s nine daughters, falls into this category.

Delle regularly drives her mom around to doctor’s appointments, grocery stores and other meetings throughout the week. Although Claire still has a valid driver’s license she gets nervous driving at night and feels safer when she gets a ride with her daughter. Nelson lives in Riverton, Utah, which is a 28-minute drive to her mom’s house in Murray, but the distance was never a problem for her. Delle realizes the important role she now plays in Claire’s health and happiness.

“You spend your life emulating your parents, and before you know it you realize they need you to be there for them,” Delle said. “She’s taught us so much throughout the years, and none of us want to see her lonely as she gets older. I want to be there for her, physically and emotionally.”

Despite the challenges that may come at her age, Claire is still active in her community. She contributes service to the Relief Society and enjoys spending time with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Claire regularly attends aerobics at her local gym with others her age, and is able to cook meals for herself and any of her 78 grandchildren when they are able to visit throughout the year.

Claire’s large family is a personal success that she has always cherished. Because of the loss of two of her children, she treasures the time she has with her family.

“They mean the world to me,” Claire said. “Life isn’t always easy, but you have to get back on your feet every day and make the most of what you have. My family has filled the silence with laughter.”

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Story and slideshow by KEITH LAMAR McDONALD

Meet Virginia Price and take a tour of the Sarah Daft Home.

The house is an odd mixture of a nursery and a college dorm. People lounge around and play cards, sit alone at desks, fill up containers at water fountains and walk around conversing with friends. Some relax in their rooms occupying themselves with TV, crafts, puzzles and computers.

Still others seek help from caregivers, whether it is with cleaning, laundry, transportation, grooming, or light exercise.

If there were no sign in front of the Sarah Daft Home, the rustic building would look normal — albeit large and old-fashioned — for a modern family. Perched on a plateau less than a block from East High School, it is a Salt Lake City Landmark located at 737 South 1300 East.

All of the residents have a story to tell, but one resident’s story stands out from all the rest.

Virginia Price, 84, arrived at the Sarah Daft Home in November 2012. Unbeknownst to her, the center would be her home for the foreseeable future. Although she likes the assisted-living facility now, it wasn’t always a place she wanted to be.

“I brought four sets of clothes because I didn’t know I was moving…. I thought I was going to see my granddaughter,” Price said. “I know my kids thought they were doing me a favor. I didn’t want to move. I had an apartment, I was living by myself.”

The main issue that Price had with the transition to the Sarah Daft Home is the loss of independence. She said her first couple of days at the home were filled with tears as she poured out her emotions to the Sarah Daft Home Director, Marsha Namba, while they held hands.

“It’s a tough transition,” Namba said. “Moving from independence to dependence can be tough.”

Growing up in the Uintah Basin

Price, dressed in a peach-colored sweat suit and seated on a couch outside her room, spoke softly about what it was like growing up in the 1930s and 1940s.

She was raised on a ranch in the Uinta Basin, where she started working at the age of 8. Her family plowed fields with horses, not a tractor, and they had no electricity or automobile. They hauled water to an old tin tub to bathe themselves.

She and her eight siblings lived with their parents in a two-bedroom home. Her father accounted for every penny they made and spent in his ledger and made sure that everyone pulled their own weight. Solidarity was their primary tool, not technology or science.

“Neighbors would go from farm to farm to help everybody with their work, about seven or eight neighbors,” Price said. “Then [World War II] came and people started making money from their farms and pulled away from that cooperative form of living…. That was the saddest part of growing up — watching the community dissolve.”

The work ethic Price learned on that ranch followed her into her adulthood as an employee and parent.

Career and family life

Price grew up in Utah, but later lived in Pennsylvania, Wyoming and Oregon. She drove a big rig through America, visiting every state in the Union except for Vermont. She held odd jobs as a waitress and clerical worker. She also worked at a sawmill where she lost the tip of her finger in an accident.

Pay equity was an issue, as Price received lower wages than her male counterparts for the same jobs. Price said she earned $6.50 per hour while the male workers made up to $11 an hour. She was the only woman out of the 20 workers at the sawmill, which had at least seven workers injured at all times. The wear and tear of such dangerous and intensive labor finally forced her to quit.

Her favorite job, however, was at the forestry service.

“I loved working outdoors, around the mountains, riding horseback,” she said.

Price said she instilled her traditional values of hard work on her six children to mixed effects. She said some of her children think she was a bit hard on them.

“My kids had to do chores and we ate together and we lived life together because that’s what raises up a family,” she said.

During the interview, Buddy Holly and the Crickets’ “Oh Boy” came on the radio. The song made her think about picking up her children and dancing with them.

“I dearly love my grandkids but I’m embarrassed a lot … I tell you what … they are raised different,” she added.

Her children thought she gave them too much to do, but one of her daughters, after raising children of her own, said she may have gone too far from the traditions and values Price tried to impress upon her.

Present day

Price contracted pneumonia in January 2014 after a hip replacement and has had a tough time getting back on track.

“I’m still not over it. It’s terrible, the coughing and my voice, but my lungs are clear now,” she said.

Even though she may miss her independence, Price still enjoys working with her hands. During the Christmas 2013 season she sent 125 cards and decorated 20 birdhouses for her family and friends to enjoy. It took her six months to complete the tasks.

Price stays active but has some trouble remembering things. Her best friend and sister, Lavonda, died in November 2013 due to leukemia. Price still feels her presence, often telling herself she needs to call her sister before realizing she cannot.

“I can remember when I was young a lot better than I can remember [current events],” Price said.

Price tells her life story through her book of poetry, “Inside Looking Out,” which was published by lulu.com in October 2013. It is a 309-page hardcover book with subjects ranging from inquisitive grandchildren to growing up on a ranch.

“I like writing poems about horses and the outdoors and people,” Price said. “If I write the first line that comes to my head the rest just flows. That’s how I’ve been writing my adult years.”

One of the poems Price likes best deals with her seeing a picture of herself and thinking that she didn’t feel as old as she looks in the image. Not only was she inside a retirement home looking out at the world, she was inside her body looking out at a world that didn’t see her mind, only her aging frame.

She said she never thought her poems were any good because she couldn’t get many people to read them.

But at the Sarah Daft Home, Price has plenty of friends to share her work and ideas with.

Lenova Burton, a caregiver at the Sarah Daft Home, sees Price as a sweet person who cares about everyone she meets. If a resident needs someone to talk to they can always come to Price. She never turns down a chance to interact with people.

“Her personality hasn’t changed since she got here,” Burton said.

Director Marsha Namba said Price will be remembered for her love of literature and kind heart.

Her poems will remain a testament to what she stands for long after she is gone. People will never struggle to remember what she did with her life before the Sarah Daft Home or how she felt as an aging Utahn on the “Inside Looking Out.”

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