Do you or family members live away from home?

my sister has lived in Afghanistan for almost 3 years thankfully she is coming home shortly

I've spent over half my life on a different continent, so I know how tough it can be to be so far away from your family. I (or we) originally visited my family every other year, and my brother or parents would visit us the years I didn't come. Then my older brother died, and my father had a major stroke a year after moving to the Midwest, where my sister was living, so the whole situation changed. I try to get back for a visit every year, though I dread the 24-hour trip (no direct flights), and I know it really means a lot to my mother, who is now a widow. This year, I unfortunately didn't get to see my eldest niece, who's in grad school in Virginia. Email, faxes and cheap international calls are a godsend.

When I lived at home, all my family was in the same town, or within 15 miles away. I moved away for work and now they are all 2 1/2 hrs away. Its not a bad distance, I love where I live, plus, its a nice driving distance to get away from where I live now and a fun little drive to see family. I would give anything to live closer to them, my family means the world to me! I talk to my mom about 10 times a day, it still feels weird being 'grown up' and not living with mommy and daddy anymore, and out on my own in the 'real world', yikes!

...oh Susie... ..

My little family live in the same City! ... ...(Mom Dad & my 3 brothers with his own familys!)..

All of my mother side of the family live in scotland, all of my dads live in Sicily
i hadnt seen my mothers family for over 12 years. and now i have no contact to them since my grandmother died.

On my dads side though i go every year well, not when i lived in australia though that was a bit too expensive

I am so much happier when there is at least 1 state between my sister and me! I wish my daughter and granddaughter didn't live 6 hours away, though.

I'm not close at all to my family so it's actually quite a relief to be living 15,000 kms away from them! I do miss my twin sister in Wellington though. It's been nearly 5 years since I went back to NZ. It's so expensive!!! She's had 2 boys since I last visited and I can't wait to meet them!

I live away from all of my family
I'm close to my family, so yeah, it depresses me.
Parents, brother, sister in law and neice/nephew in WA, 2 brothers, 2 sisters, my father and their families in Nebraska, remaining brother in Minnesota, cousins are in California and South Dakota.

Our family has always been kind of nomadic..and not very close.
All of my older sisters left for other states after getting out of school. Now Mom lives in CA, one sister is back up in PA, I am back in FL after hating CA & moving back, leaving Mom there. That was tough, because she is getting older & not so healthy lately. My oldest sister lives in a nearby town, but we rarely see each other. My other sister lived in upstate New York for years, & when she passed away, I felt like I hardly knew her..we hadn't seen each other for years & didn't talk much on the phone. It's very sad to be a part of someone & realize one day that you hardly knew them. But if she were alive & I saw her today after so many years, it wouldn't take long for us to be silly & laugh.

*MEGA HUGS* to you.

Originally Posted by captiva

*MEGA HUGS* to you.

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Thanks Chrissy.........back at ya. Thanks to you all for sharing your stories. I'll just have to wait and see if my brother in law gets the job in Pensacola.

Aww...I understand the feeling. I used to live very close to all of my family but one Aunt and Uncle when we lived in NY. And they were only 3 hours away. Then Mom remarried and we moved here. She and my stepfather (and a step-bro and step-sis) are my only family here. My husband's family is in TN. And other than that I now have family in NJ, FL, CA, and TX. Oh and PA too. Most are step, but not all. I love family and I miss all our traditions terribly. But I had to make new ones. Eventually, people from our church have become more family and that helps!

My only family lives down the hall... I am taking care of Mom till her end whenever that is ... Somedays I wish a continant was between us..

My siblings (four brothers, three sisters) and I are spread out. My mom, little sister and brother, and one big brother live in or near the town where I was raised. I live in Kansas City, three hours away. The rest live in Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Colorado. My family isn't particularly close, but my husband's family is, and we live near his. The longer I'm married, the more I adopt my husband's feelings about family. I wish now that we could all—ALL—live in the same city.

My entire family (including extended) is now spread out across the entire country and have been for quite some time. I haven't spent the holidays with my parents and brother in over 8 years. Hoping to remedy that soon. DH and I are looking into moving back toward where we grew up (where his family still lives), as is my brother, and I think my parents will too when they get ready to retire. It's tough to be so far away for each other. We talk on the phone at least once a week and visit as often as we can. Unfortunately that can be expensive. I went 3 years without seeing my family - not by choice.

Here is my mom's family: We are in and are firmly planted in Chicago (my dad is a native, and come hell or high water, he's absolutely not leaving this city). My aunt Deb (my mom's oldest sister) and Uncle Ted are in Tampa. My Aunt Lynn and Uncle John (and my great-aunt Betty) are in Olathe, Kansas. My Aunt Wendy and Uncle Bill are on a ranch near Havre, Montana. Most of my mom's other relatives (who are called my "aunts", "uncles" and "cousins" regarless of how I'm actually related to them) are scattered in the plains states in the heart of the midwest, like Wisconsin, Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma. They come from a family of Scandinavians who came over in the late 19th century and became farmers. Many of my relatives still are, as you can probably discern from their locations.

Our solution? We rely heavily on the internet and calling plans. we send a lot of snail mail, which is heartwarming, yet necessary. Every couple of years, we throw a GIGANTIC family reunion that requires us to spend 10-15 days camping in the middle of one of those plains states. Often (as in once a year or more), my mom and her mom and sisters all gather with the sister in Tampa for some R&R. It's why I've been to Disney World a good 30 times in my 20 years.

My dad's family, on the other hand, is extremely Italian (like, came over when my daddy was little and still speak the language, etc) and extremely urbane. My Big Fat Italiam family (I easily have 20 cousins on that side of the family ALONE) is concentrated in just 4 locales: Chicago, Boston, New York and Reggio, Calabria in the south of Italy.

I'm the one who moved away. All of my family (except Dad) is in the East -- my brother and his wife in the Montreal area, all his kids and their kids in the Toronto area -- basically 3,000 miles away from me. Dad moved west when Montreal winters became too much for him. If it weren't for that, he'd still be there.

Travelling is expensive, and with everyone there, it means you have to allow enough time to see everyone at least a bit -- it gobbles up vacation time. At this point I just don't do it. I rely on them to come and see Dad, who's past travelling, and we do our catching up at the same time.

It's a challenge staying in touch sometimes -- even with email and phones and whatnot -- time zones are the pits! We manage, though. But I sure do wish they were closer.