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Wednesday, 26 July 2006

Comments

TerriTorial

Funny you brought this up. We have family coming to stay with us from Ontario tomorrow. They are my Godparents and mean the world to me. My Aunt was born and raised here in Saskathcewan but moved East for her husband. She often wonders what her life would have been like if should have stayed here. Would she be as insane as the rest of her family? Would she have made them more sane? But she wouldn't trade any of it for her life in Ontario.

Like George Burns once said "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city."

Dixie

Well, what makes me feel better about living so far away from Marc's family is that when we go and see them, we SEE them and spend excessive amounts of time with them. Last year, we took 2 trips out to BC totally about 25 days. I'm sure we spent more time with Marc's brother's family in those 2 condensed periods than we have with my brother who lives about 8 blocks away. Just make it count when you've got the time. And even though you may not see them with great frequency, maybe the length of time you spend with them in one visit will make up for that. Maybe.

Grampa

Love the George Burns comment. It is right on.

Linda

I'm one of those crazy people who believe families should live in little communes, in each other's faces every minute of every freakin' day. And I believe it more with each passing year that my grandkids and nieces and nephews are growing up and farther away...

Linda

This is one of your best/my favorite posts, btw :-) Love the absence of "ruddy pigmentation" in the neckal area ...

Mark

Great stuff. Before we moved to Texas, my wife and I considered returning to live within 45 minutes of all my surviving kin (well, as far out as first cousins, anyway), but then we realized that when we lived that close before, we never saw them anymore than did living six hours away.

Therefore, the George Burns quote was right on the money for us, too. Oh, but now I'm commenting on a comment. Oops.

E-Belle

We made the decision to move back East in order to be closer to family. Seeing them once a year wasn't cutting it for us (and the 14 hour car-trips t'weren't no fun, neither). But we DID move to a place that was still far enough away that we see them as frequently as we want to and not MORE than we want to. Moderation in all things, eh?

That said, there are SOME family members I'd love to live in the same city with and some I'd rather not.

And then there are friends you wished lived in the same city.... ;D

marian

All that's left of my own crazy family is my one relatively estranged brother back east, his wife and two grown sons. So I'm just as happy not having any family around. Fortunately, my son's birth father has a HUGE family about an hour south of here, so Max does get the experience of reveling in blood relations several times a year.

Meanwhile Rick's family, another one that's fairly estranged, is scattered all over the continent — none near here.

When I was a stay-at-home-mom I was deeply envious of women whose families were nearby so in a pinch they could drop the kids off or have a willing babysitter.

But right now I'm happy with the way things are. Are you seriously considering relocating?

Simon

Oh no. Very slim chance of us leaving where we are. (Never say never, right?) But there will be a more concerted effort, especially when both boys are more amenable to travel, to get out and see our relatives more often.

One benefit of living so far away from everybody else is the Prodigal Son effect whenever you go see them. Especially bearing small, adorable children.

Tina

I often wonder what would have become of my life, if my folks had decided to stay in Toronto, rather than move to Southern California. In some ways I think it would have been alot easier for them, having loved ones around who could have helped them out, seeing as how they had five kids! Then I grew up and married and moved away for ten years, raising my kids in another state. When we returned, they had missed those 'bonding years' with the cousins. Although they now see each other on occasions, it isn't the same. But, you know what ? My kids will probably do the same thing, moving away to start their own families and traditions. And so it goes.

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