Over the next couple of days we'll be giving some tips for you Sandwiched Boomers, as you look at your friendships and begin to build on them.

Appreciate your friends and give these relationships the time and attention they need in order to blossom. Turning to other women for support can provide strength to help you cope as you face challenges with your family in flux.

Women’s friendships can be complicated. What you need from each other, and the intensity and frequency of these needs, can lead to some misunderstandings. Hang in there during the rough periods.

Friendships change throughout life. When you're young, friends help form your identity. In adolescence, with peer pressure, your sense of self depends on what you see reflected in their eyes. When you know who you are, how friends see you seems less important. But they can play an even more significant role in your life.

Studies have found that social ties reduce our risk of disease and help us live longer. Friends also help us live better. The 'tend and befriend' notion, developed by Drs. Shelley Taylor and Laura Klein, may explain why women consistently outlive men. the famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School determined that the larger the number of friends women have, the less likely they are to develop physical impairments as they age, and the more likely they are to lead a joyful life.

And that's not all. Research about how well women function after their spouse has died indicates that, even in the face of this severest stressor, those women who have a close friend and confidante are more likely to survive the experience without any new physical impairments or permanent loss of vitality.

Learn more about this when you join us anytime this Thursday for our Virtual Book Tour. Our guest will be Elaine Williams, who wrote "A Journey Well Taken: Life After Loss" after the death of her husband.

What do you think about celebrities and the media frenzy - especially the focus on B-list bad girls who put the best interests of their children at stake. If young parents act irresponsibly and are unable to care for their children, is it up to their own parents - often hard working, card carrying members of the Sandwich Generation - to step in?

An increasing number of boomer grandparents are assuming greater care-giving and financial responsibilities for their grandchildren. Recent statistics indicate that more than 2.9 million grandparents are raising 4.5 million grandchildren. This is particularly true in homes where the circumstances involve a single parent, a habitual substance abuse problem or chronic illness.

If you feel caught in the middle of a soap opera or a complex and painful crisis, stay tuned over the next few days - we'll be offering ideas to help you take better care of your grandchildren, your children and yourself:

It's important for you to grieve whatever it is you have lost – perhaps it's the freedom to retire or work less at this time of your life, the dreams you had for the future of your extended family, or your children as you once knew them.

Accept the changes in your family, whatever they are, even if you feel caught in the crossfire. Validate your child's feelings and withhold blame. While you can show support, try not to take a particular side or excuse bad behavior. Remember that your primary concern here is to attend to the immediate needs of your grandchildren.