I've been really struggling with missing family lately. Honestly, it's been the worst part of moving here. The thing I hate the most. Our closest family is 7 hours away. Of course I knew we would miss everyone when we made the decision to leave. I knew it would be hard. But this is ridiculous. It's difficult for me to connect with family in such different time zones, and to nurture relationships that are so important to me.... there are just more challenges than I anticipated. It makes me really sad.
You know that I don't like to be a grumpy Gus on the blog. I like to keep it somewhat positive for the people who stop by, so I don't bum you guys out. But this has been weighing heavy on me. My kids ask about their cousins and grandparents all. the. time..... like, daily. Which I guess is a really great thing... but it makes me sad we can't be nearer to everyone so that the kids could continue to get to know them and feel close to them... to grow up with them.
Here are some photos from when Hotties parents came to visit recently.
(We are so lucky that they are retired, and have built traveling into their budget.)
All that being said, there really isn't much we can do. Our family is literally spread from coast to coast now, so even if we wanted to move near "them" we couldn't. We have members in California, Oregon, Colorado, South Dakota, Virginia, New York? Connecticut?. All we can do is plan trips when possible, keep our home open to any and all who want to visit, make the most of our time together when it does happen, and teach our kids that they are surrounded by so much love... even if it is from afar...... and share pictures... lots, and lots of pictures.
I definitely feel ya. My family is in MN and I get to see them once, maybe twice a year. It sucked before but now that I have Ruby it's worse. They are missing so much of her growing up and it makes me sad. Thankfully, H's parents are only 2.5 hours away so they come up on a fairly regular basis (they are also retired). I've wanted to move back home for a while but we'd go from being away from one set of family to another-you just can't win! I'm grateful for Skype and Facebook, it helps to keep us connected!
ReplyDelete