In some cultures, grandparents living with a nuclear family is not too unusual. But it is for my community, and I venture to guess, for most of the United States. When I told people we were buying a bigger house so my parents could live with us, the reaction was familiar. Seventeen years ago when I decided to leave my career in television news and stay at home with my newborn twins, I got some of the same blank stares. Why would you want to give up a career or an established life to care for someone?

Because, for me, it is the right thing to do.

Notice, I did not say the easy thing to do. Because combining a household with three active boys, one demanding career (my husband's), one fledgling career (mine), two 80-something people and a needy golden retriever, takes some finesse, nerves of steel and a strong will to get through it.

Today I was struck by the irony of a couple of things. My 17-year-old twins are trying to figure out where to go to college, my 12-year-old is weighing the merits of two different junior high schools, and my parents want to look into where they should be buried. So, new beginnings for three people, the end for two others. I never really want to talk about burial plots, but as mom pointed out today, we shouldn't wait until "that day." It will be stressful and difficult then. She's right, so on my calendar next week, I will block out a couple hours to go shopping for a final resting place.

Living with people who have weathered 8 decades does give you a unique perspective. That life on earth doesn't last forever, for instance. Or that some things just aren't worth worrying about. That old-fashioned values are often the best kind of values. And that give and take as a family really does benefit everyone.