Cyani Terry leaves her Upper Darby home each morning for the one place she says she can breathe. It's not her living room. It's the skilled nursing floor at Bryn Mawr Village, the nonprofit senior care community at 773 E. Haverford Road in Bryn Mawr.

Terry, a Certified Nursing Assistant, spends her shifts helping residents recover from surgery, illness and injury. Before and after work, she's raising two young children, including a one-year-old daughter, and supporting her 48-year-old mother through colon cancer treatment that has included chemotherapy, radiation and a 13-hour surgery in June.

"I still have to show up for my children. I have to show up for my mother. And I still have to show up for my residents," Terry told Main Line Media News in a profile.

July is Sandwich Generation Month, recognizing Americans who juggle raising kids while caring for aging or ill parents. About 23% of U.S. adults fall into that category, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center report. Terry's situation doesn't fit the textbook definition, which requires a parent age 65 or older. Her mother is 48. But the daily weight is the same.

Before the diagnosis, Terry's mother watched her daughter while Terry worked. That arrangement ended abruptly when her mother got sick.

Terry said she hides her own distress to protect her mother's spirits. Her mother, she said, has always been "the life of the party," someone who loves getting dressed up and going out.

At Bryn Mawr Village, the support has flowed both ways. When Terry's mother went into surgery, the facility's administrator prayed with Terry beforehand.

"When she prayed with me, that told me everything about the building I work for," Terry said.

Terry said her residents ask about her mother every morning. On difficult days, they pray with her. One resident's daughter, who is also raising young children while caring for her own mother in her 80s, has become a quiet ally. The two women tell each other the same thing every time they meet: "Everything's going to be okay."

As a CNA, Terry helps residents with dressing, eating, bathing, grooming and health monitoring. She said her mother's illness has shaped how she approaches that work.

"I take care of everyone with love because I always think, if someone had to take care of my mother, I would want them to treat her with love," she said.

Terry's mother's cancer treatment is ongoing. Terry keeps showing up.