Presumptive Presidential nominee John McCain has again demonstrated his commitment to put country before party. Concerned about Americans of the Gulf Coast in the path of Hurricane Gustav, he suspended most of the activities of the Republican Convention on Monday. Touring the emergency management center in Mississippi for closed-door briefings before the storm hit, McCain said, "We must redirect our efforts from the really celebratory event of the nomination of president and vice president of our party to acting as all Americans."

Calling on his party to "act as Americans…not as Republicans" McCain has asked corporations sponsoring the convention to focus at this time on fundraising not partying, support not celebration, the Red Cross, not the red states. Cindy McCain mirrored her husband's focus, reminding us, as Hanna and Ike form behind Gustav, “The challenges will continue in the days ahead. I would ask that each one of us commit to join together to aid those in need as quickly as possible. This is a time when we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats.” In response, Republicans at the convention in St. Paul have been using some of their downtime to raise money for relief efforts along the Gulf Coast. One telethon raised more than $1 million in the course of an hour Monday afternoon.

As Sandwiched Boomers facing challenges in your own lives, you may find yourselves in the same dilemma McCain struggled with - making difficult decisions about when to direct your efforts to meeting your own needs and when to put others first.

Barack Obama is now the presumptive Democratic candidate yet Hillary Clinton has not given up the fight. It feels like a marriage gone wrong. Any relationship therapist would agree that there are two sides to every story - and the reality is usually somewhere in the middle.

There have been inuendos and accusations - from the quality of character to what constitutes a lie - all in the spirit of being judged more worthy of staying in the race and coming out a winner. Initial counseling sessions often begin with "why are you here and what went wrong?" Hillary had the money, the man and the motivation. But she wasn't prepared for the challenge of someone like Obama who had the message people wanted to hear.

So is Hillary a fighter or a spoiler, having stayed at the party too long? It's never easy to leave the spotlight, pick up the pieces and move on with your life. But no matter what advice others give you or what support you still have, first you have to be ready to let go of dreams and hopes. And apparently she's not there yet.