Wednesday, April 20, 2011

"R" is for Remote Relatives


Life these days is transient. We've had to move and move and move. Transplanting is so hard. And it always seems to be far from our relatives. So many times we sacrifice a real vacation to visit them, which I enjoy but I wish we could live closer to them.

For LHW survey question #2, I asked:
Where do you live? And are you close to relatives?

Sadly, it looks like the majority from my quick FB survey are in the same boat as me and do not live near family. I'm jealous of those who do.
Jill – OH, no.
Jeannie – FL, yes
Caroline – TX, yes
Dana – FL, 2 hrs, sort of
Julie – TX, no
Kelly G – MN, no
Anne Marie – OH, no

At least we have each other! And the internet! Do you live near relatives? - but more importantly, is it a good thing?

10 comments:

Heather M. Gardner said...

I live near most of my immediate family and my husbands. It's good and bad. My son is very lucky. He gets to see both sets of his Grandparents on a regular basis. Holidays can be tricky and long trying to split the days in half.
I like how you said 'sacrifice a real vacation' to visit them. Couldn't be more true.
Thanks to Facebook I am now speaking with a much larger percentage of my family than I ever did before. We get to see parts of each others lives, photos, instant gratification, instead of, 'yeah, I'll send you an email with some pics' that you never get around to.
Congrats on your "Over 100" followers!

Huntress said...

Some relatives are not close enough and I wish I could see them more often.

Others are too close but I keep pepper spray nearby for them.

MISH said...

I'm a quick 15 minute drive away from my mom , 3 sisters and 2 brothers . They are all very close in proximity , in the same neighbourhood , in fact . I'm the one who has "moved out of the neighbourhood" , so it works to my advantage . Why ? Because I can go to them whenever I feel the urge to visit , somebody will always be home , somewhere ... They won't just "venture out of the neighbourhood" to visit me . Dunno why ... maybe because I'm often on the move ...

~MICHELLE~

Theresa Milstein said...

For nearly 10 years, I've lived in MA. My dad is about 3 hours away in Maine. Most of my family is about 5 hours away in NY. Before that, I lived near everyone, which was really nice. I miss it.

Cat Lavoie said...

When I was 19, I moved away from home for University (and decided to stay in the big city.) For eleven years my parents were a 6-hour drive away. I was really happy when they sold their house and moved to be closer to me and my brother. I totally understand how hard it is sometimes. Hugs! Have a great weekend! :)

Tara Tyler said...

Heather - thanks! yea. it's the kids missing out on family time like I remember.

Huntress - you're funny, sounds like distance makes them more likeable.

Mish - it's nice to have family close

Theresa - I used to live in Plymouth =) much of my mom's side of the family still does. I haven't seen them in near 20 years! Logan airport and Boston traffic are almost as scary as NY! (I'm a wimp)

Catherine - my parents did that too, and then my sister and I moved again for jobs. now they're 8 hrs from both of us =)

junebug said...

We lived away from our family for six years. Then we moved back to be near our family but we were too close to our family so we moved away again.

I love spending time with my family but boundaries are kind of nonexistent.

Dana said...

I'm living about a thousand miles away from my parents, and I wish so much that I was closer. I hate that they're missing so much of their grandchildren's childhood--and I miss my mom and dad!

Rhonda @Laugh Quotes said...

We are halfway around the world from our family. We now live in New Zealand, family is all in USA - and non in the same states, so not only do we give up holidays, we are expected to visit CA, FL, AZ, IL and VA every time we enter the US. We don't go home much, as we simply can't afford the travel.

Another great post. Glad I found you.

Tara Tyler said...

Junebug! - shame on you (jk) - but we do need our distance sometimes =)

Dana - I feel for you not being near your folks, especially with your little ones, they can make life so much easier.

Rhonda - I never thot of that, you were in the states, why didn't you see us? - and I imagine it's outrageous just to get here! tell them to visit you and see how it is...NZ is gorgeous!

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