2026 Book Review #24: Sandwich

 

What a light....yet deep....book!

It's a play on words, really.  The title I mean. 

Dave and I were just in Sandwich 2 weeks ago spending the day and the description of the vacation cottages, etc is spot on. But it's also the main character being in the "sandwich" era of her life: aging parents and half-grown children, who are young adults with their own needs and issues.  I highly recommend this story! 

STORY SUMMARY

Rocky (Rachel) is married to Nicky and they have two almost totally grown up children: Willa, who is gay; and  Jamie who has a girlfriend named Maya.  Rocky and her family have vacationed on Cape Cod every year for 20 years. They look forward to it!  They rent a very humble, little beach-town cottage and they've made memories and messes:  emotional, marital, and because of the ancient plumbing, they've also had septic issues over the years. But the memories are sweet and they still all want to vacation together. 

With this year's vacation, Rocky feels sandwiched in between her aging parents and her young adult children. It's going to be a great vacation, as always, but Rocky is also dealing with, at age 54, the symptoms and mood swings of menopause. Rocky's body is changing...and so is her life. 

A chain of events bring Rocky into her past and she begins to relive not just the tender, poignant moments, but the sorrows a couple of long-ago summers when her  children were preschoolers. 

They are only on the Cape for one week...but in that week,  everything is in balance, yet everything is in changing. Rocky learns some things about her own family's past and then she is forced to accept that she can't hide certain secrets any longer, especially from the people she loves. 

MY THOUGHTS

This is a book with laughs, tears and many precious moments

I loved this book other than a few crass words and depictions as well as many editing errors. 

The characters are richly developed and so real! I could relate to Rocky on so many levels except the hot flashes (I didn't get those during menopause). 

The setting was so well described, I could smell the salt air and pines and feel the sandy shore under my toes. 

The main themes in this story seem to be: physical and emotional changes in women; transitions of life and relationships; abortion; homosexuality;  intergenerational dynamics/family dynamics; love, forgiveness, acceptance. 

Some quotes that really resonated with me were all from the ending of the story: 

"...that's part of choice--we get to make our own decisions, even if they're imperfect.The potential that you might regret something? We don't make anything illegal beause of that....." (pg 204 Sandwich by Catherine Newman c.2024

"Maybe grief is love imploding. Or maybe it's love expanding. I don't know. I just know you can't create loss to preempt loss because it doesn't work that way. So you might as well love as much as you can. And as recklessly. Like it's your last resort, because it is." (pg 220-221) 

 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to mature content). 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9. 

 

It's Been Awhile

 

It's been awhile since I wrote about a betrayal that cut so deep, I felt like I was bleeding out. 

It's been awhile since I trusted a person whom I don't even know all that well yet. 

It's been awhile since I sensed God doing some rearranging in my soul........

...........my mind..........

...........................my heart

It's been awhile since my heartstrings were so tangled I didn't know which end was up and which end was down and why does this keep  coming round and round? 

It took one discussion. The topic was forgiveness. I was moved by one woman's testimony that I don't have permission to share here.  Then another woman shared something and wham. I felt pretty convicted. It was a week ago. 

And I knew in the deepest part of my heart that there were people from my past (specifically former church leaders) that I hadn't thought about in over 6 years, let alone forgiven.  

It's easy to push things down and hide them in a box in the shadows of the heart never to open it. 

It's hard to pull things up and expose them to the light  so the Light can shine through. 

All this past week, I haven't slept well, tossing and turning, not eating, and wondering why God has me in this place?

because it's been awhile......

Why was I being triggered all over again standing in church and looking around and seeing people joyful and me in agony.......frozen so the tears don't fall...........

because it's been awhile.....

This time though,  I knew the answer.....

 There's a part of me that felt in control with fists tightly clenched that I can't even hold on to something.........can't worship, can't read the Word, can't trust.......

can't let go.......

won't let go........

.........yet I was having visions of reaching for Jesus'  hand ........again..........to get up and over........and there were these past leaders in the way with an angry God behind them and a laughing Satan in front of them and where are you Jesus?? and why this week of all weeks?? (the anniversary of a pivotal moment in my teen years). 

Because it's been awhile. 

And in reaching my breaking point, just like God does so well, in walks a person I admire greatly and whom for some reason I trust. This has always been hard for me. I was tempted to call my friend the  counselor but God impressed on me to talk to J. And I don't typically get these "senses". I'm glad I listened and could at least do that.......because......

it's been awhile. 

And this friend? 

She challenged me. She quoted me Scripture, she read past posts and still accepted me and I knew she would pray. I asked for prayer because.....

it's been awhile. 

And I just knew I could trust her. 

She challenged me that those leaders? they weren't really my friends. Those people who dissed me and sent me horrible messages full of anger? they weren't really my friends. And it was time for my ears to hear this because......

it's been awhile. 

And while trying to stay in control of one last big thing in my life  that I can cling to and be in control of  and wishing to see justice when it isn't gonna happen here on earth........

........I knew I was unraveling and totally out of control........and when those tears started falling and it was time to pray..........

I released those people from my past and asked God to help me forgive and told Him I was laying them at the foot of the Cross for Him to carry.......

and I felt my fists unclench.......

because it had been awhile. 

JULY FAVES

 

WOWZA! It's been another few days of hot and humid weather but the high humidity is supposed to break tonight, so for that I am grateful. I'm tired of having the central air on. I much prefer fresh air blowing through the open windows in my home. 

Let's pause and find FIVE blessings from the week that "Wow-ed" us or made us stop and say "thank You, God".  I'm joining in with other bloggers who do this every Friday and Susanne is the host! Thankful for Susanne continuing this because it is good to give thanks for our blessings. 

• iPHONE CAMERA: I'm thankful for the iphone camera. My vacation pics came out pretty good and although a couple of the ocean ones didn't come out at all, most of them have been sorted through, uploaded onto this laptop, and put into albums on Facebook and used in blog posts talking about each day of our vacation.  So far, I've only written about 2 out of the 5 days, but that's ok. I started backwards with Day 4 (I'm not doing one for the last day but I wrote about it on FB) so did that and Day 3. Day 2 will be written tonight if I get a chance or tomorrow morning. If you click on the blue bold print, it will take you to the posts. Day 4 was the day we discovered some very interesting things about Dave's family 😃 at the Pilgrim museum. 

Day lilies

hanging plant off front entrance

gerbera daisies in front flower bed

Sunflowers

• THRIVING PLANTS:  I was so happy to see my plants (including the buttercrunch lettuce I left in the dining room while we were gone as it can't be out in the high heat and humidity) thriving this week. Our youngest daughter came up after work while we were gone one evening and when we got home she reported to me that she only had to water the indoor plants because this area had a couple of days of "monsoons" (her words).  She said it poured. It never rained at all in Plymouth and Cape Cod, thankfully. I was so worried these plants would die from the heat and humidity but they're actually thriving. The short sunflowers are now all opened since I've taken this photo. The sprinkling of red you see on the leaves  is chili powder. It keeps the bunnies who live under our shed away!!  As it is, they ate all of my morning glories as I forgot to sprinkle those. I'm thankful for beautiful blooms. 

the central and high peaks region from the firetower 
on the summit of Swede Mt 

me and Melanie
on the summit of Swede Mt
There is a sign informing hikers
 of the history of the ADK  fire towers
photo compliments of Charlie 
used with permission

I had Charlie, our newest SoulSteps member,
lead the way down the mountain. 
The broken down cabin is a former hunting cabin
Hunting is allowed on Swede Mt 
so the trail is closed to hikers from Sept-midDec. 

• MID-WEEK HIKE:  I had 6 members originally signed up for hiking up the small mountain in eastern Adirondacks known as Swede Mt. Swede only has an elevation of 1904 '.  The trail is very narrow and overgrown in the first half mile. The 2nd half mile is a nice wide trail with switchbacks as it's a short,  steep mountain. It ended up being just 3 of us hiking as some members who had signed up were either not feeling well or were recovering from injuries. Melanie and Charlie were great hiking partners and it was great to get to know Charlie a bit. He shared his testimony and it was quite powerful. I had him lead us back down the mountain.  It was very hot and humid, and while I was climbing the firetower, I actually had to sit down on the last flight to slow my heart rate down...I felt like I was going to faint.  But I figured out that I just hadn't been drinking enough water plus we had set a pretty fast pace. It ended up being a hot humid day so Melanie and I went to Loon Lake afterwards which is about 15 miles north of the mountain.  We had planned to hike somewhere so we were wearing our swimgear under the hiking clothes. I'm thankful Charlie enjoyed his first SoulSteps hike (he was on vacation all week and his wife doesn't like to hike) and that we all stayed safe. 

relaxing at Loon Lake (eastern ADK)
after a hot, sweaty hike.
Loon Lake is super clear and clean and the water is cold but refreshing

• CHORES DONE:  Dave and I tackled the laundry together last weekend and while I dealt with grocery shopping and reading all the mail that was waiting for us when we got home Friday evening, he mowed the entire lawn. It felt good to be back in our own bed and get the chores done and then Sunday evening we just relaxed.  I'm thankful my husband helps out around the house! 

Thursday evening

• HAIR RE-SHAPED!  I couldn't stand the pixie cut my hair stylist did for me in June. It was much to "shaggy" in the back and the top just didn't look good on me. I don't like complaining to her as I've gone to her for about 25 years now and she's usually top notch but that cut just wasn't working for me.  So I called her, got in for yesterday morning, and asked her if she could do the stacked look in the back and trim it to grow back out to be a cropped French bob.  She said she absolutely could.  She did a great job and she agreed the shaggy pixie...although super trendy right now....just doesn't fit me well. I told her to not let me talk her into ever doing that again! HA! Seriously...I am so thankful for her and her skills.

That wraps up my first full week of July and some favorite blessings.

How was your week? what are you thankful for today? 

I totally forgot to mention Independence Day!!  We spent it doing chores and I made grilled burgers (plant based for me, beef for dave) and we attended our local baseball game (the Valley Cats..used to be minor league but can't remember what level it is now) where the visiting team won but that was ok because that's who we were rooting for! Why? because it was the Brocton Rox and that's the area of MA that Dave is from!! It was a great game with a grand slam and just so much fun to see the fireworks afterwards.  I was especially thankful that our youngest daughter Claire could meet us there...it was so good to see her and get caught up on her life. 

I love how this pic I took came out!

Vacation Day 3: Sandwich on Cape Cod

 

Wednesday was our 3rd day in Plymouth and we chose to do something that I wanted to do.  The Battleship Cove visit in Fall River on our Anniversary (30 June) was for Dave. Although if you are on Facebook with me, you know I also loved it.  

I had really wanted us to go back to the Botanical Heritage Gardens and Museums.  We had been there during Memorial Day weekend circa 2004 when we camped in Sandwich that year and the girls were 5 and 8.  But it was rainy, gloomy, chilly the morning we went to the Gardens and hardly anything was blooming yet.  So we took them inside the Auto Museum there and then on the carousel.  They must have ridden that 5-6 times and then we ended up in Wareham to visit their grandparents (Dave's folks) and get warm by the fireplace. Wareham is where we had the T family beach house on Buzzards Bay which is just over the Bridge from the Cape. 

So I was very excited that it was a gorgeous, although hot and humid, day. We were thanking God for the ocean breeze!

Sandwich is the oldest village on Cape Cod. It's quaint with beautifully manicured lawns and pretty Cape Cod bungalows, ranch style homes, and now more colonial type homes.  Some are very simple and some are much more ornate. 

There's a very small shopping district with quaint gift shops and art galleries. 

We headed first to the Botanical Gardens which is at the end of a row of homes that are quite pricey and just beautiful and some are like mansions.  Definitely a more up scale part of town. 

There are 100 acres at the Gardens and at the admissions center they give you a map.  Most of the paths connect.  Some do not. At one point we were a bit confused as the map wasn't great but we figured out where we wanted to go and the above pic took us to a beautiful maze where it was a very sensory experience with sight, scent, sound, and touch. It was very shady in the maze and I neglected to take photos because I was reading what all the trees/plants were. This photo above was one of my favorite walkways through the gardens.  

Here are some hydrangeas that were just gorgeous. Much prettier in person than in the pics. 

Dark blue ones were my fave

the light blue ones were pretty too
We didn't know there were so many varieties!

The Botanical Gardens have 155 different species of hydrangeas.  Click on the link to read about this. 

I also loved this section, paying homage to the Wampanoag tribes. 

a replica of a Wetu, the homes of the Wampanoag 

The "three sisters":  corn, beans and squash
that the Wampanoag people taught the Pilgrims to plant 
This is why these vegetables are featured in a traditional Thanksgiving feast 

Across from the Wetu and Wampanoag Garden was the Cranberry House in an historic building that actually comes from NY! This holds the largest museum collection of cranberry history in the nation! 

Where the Cranberry Collection is exhibited

We will start celebrating Cranberry Day!
Who knew??!!

iconic signage from the 1940s 

An example of a cranberry sorting table

We were allowed to pick these up.
They are scoops to harvest the cranberries.
The one on the right, when I lifted it, was like lifting 
both of my 4 lb weights.
The one on the left I couldn't lift!  It was VERY heavy. Dave could.
Can you imagine using these for 8-10 hour days???  

After the Cranberry Exhibit, we continued onto the various gardens.  Here are my fave photos from the walks: 

a species of day lilies 

a Yew tree

Beets in the vegetable garden

An historic windmill...is called 
The Old East Mill and was built in 1800
it was used to ground corn meal for the Union soldiers of the Civil War
and was orginally located in Orleans which is further out on the cape
It was moved to Sandwich in 1967. 

a trail to the pond where it was a bit cooler
and definitely more shady 

Peas in the veggie garden.....
they were so ready to be picked and eaten!

onions!!

I really liked this whole garden area
with the yew trees

Dave by the yew tree

I loved this pot of flowers
 and the shadow it's making

The labyrinth section was peaceful and beautiful
We walked the labyrinth and had some prayer time
and it was a half mile walk!

on our prayer walk 

we thought this bench was super cool 

Dave just loved this stone wall 

We enjoyed the sundial near the front entrance

Shawnee Pond at Botanical Gardens

the trail from Shawnee Pond.....so pretty

A pretty little water garden 

Another fave water fountain garden
I especially loved this one 

a pollinator busy working!

Riding the carousel on one of the historic
handcrafted carriages 
We ended our time at the Botanical Gardens with the Carousel
in memory of when our girls did this in 2004. 
1 July 

Fish tacos with pineapple salsa and the house salad; Dave had the seafood reuben and the caesar salad
We ended the day with the BEST food, BEST prices and 
BEST drinks....at Dillon's Local
We ate late and then enjoyed time on the hotel terrace overlooking the Atlantic

a refreshing MaiTai for me and a Guiness for Dave

The beautiful sunset at Pilgrim Sands 
evening of 1 July 

That's a wrap for Wednesday 1 July!