On the 7th anniversary of terrorists' attack on our country, Democrats, Republicans and Independents join together to mourn the loss of fellow Americans that terrible day. Both nominees for President will suspend their political campaigning and appear together to honor their countrymen who were killed by terrorists seven years ago today. We too remember their loss on that dreadful day and pay homage to the courageous and heroic actions of rescue personnel who worked tirelessly to save others from dying and later to recover bodies of the dead. We are grateful and thankful for their service to our country.

Just as the other women in the limelight this election season, 54-year old Cindy McCain has combined work and volunteer activities with mothering. Receiving a Masters degree in Special Education, she taught high school students with special needs before beginning her family. The stepmother of 3 children and mother of another 4, one adopted from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh, Cindy was an active philanthropist for charities throughout the world, most directed to children, as her own were growing. A wealthy woman, she founded the American Voluntary Medical Team to provide medical assistance and food to disaster-struck or war-torn third world countries. Traveling abroad over 50 times to oversee these humanitarian activities personally, she is now actively involved in Operation Smile and other non-profit organizations.

While her level of wealth puts her in a different category than most of us, her balancing act is familiar. Cindy McCain has jumped into her volunteer work with passion and dedication that often take her away from home. As you uncover your own passions, find a way to give yourself the freedom to carry them out. When you are satisfied that you are pursuing your own personal goals as well as those of your family, you will take more pleasure in the rites and responsibilities of motherhood. So follow your dreams - it can be a win-win situation for you and your family in this election year.

The 4 women campaigning for the November election represent divergent political positions but they each are dealing with the same challenges as Sandwiched Boomers - struggling to balance work, personal needs, marital relationship, children and aging parents or in-laws. Of course, the one who has initiated the most discussion about balance between career and family is Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, Governor Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin symbolizes different things to different women. To some she is the ultimate ceiling breaker, the first woman on a Republican Vice Presidential ticket. To others, she embodies the ultimate contradiction between family values and personal ambition. Certain women are asking, can she adequately mother her five children while carrying on the national responsibilities required of a Vice-President. Those questions have not been raised when a father of five takes on enormous challenges in his work life, even today when fathers are more involved in the day to day lives of their children. Is this a double standard or justified by the reality of family needs? Do women face unique pulls when they become wives and mothers? Where are women to look now for their role models as they juggle career and family? What direction will the fight for women's rights take now and in the future? Let us know your thoughts as move through this political season.

Tomorrow we will look at the issues raised by the wife of the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee, Jill Biden.