I am sorry for you Rosemaryt, I am so lucky my kids live so close to me. Try to keep busy and maybe that will help you. Hugs.

Sue

I'm in PA... my daughter and her husband are in WA.
I feel the same way.

At least yours are just 16 hours away.... I wish mine were.

Sometimes I wish we had a kid(s) to even miss!

I sure understand too. Our daughter lives in Michigan and we are here in Georgia. All those miles between us. When they've been here with us and leave, I cry. Thank goodness for the unlimited long distance calling.

I also understand. We are in south Ga. and oldest DD and husband are in NY, Ny. They are expecting their first baby in February, so they didn't come for Christmas.

I feel for you, too. I am lucky mine all live really close. I can be at all of our kids around 30 minutes. With 7 grandkids and soon another one it is so wonderful. I do realize with the way the job market is now any of them could have to move anytime.

have a wonderful new year.

Susie

I remember when I could not wait for my kids to all be grown and move away so I could finally have some peace and quiet. Now I love when they come over and see me.
But they still leave half dranken cokes laying around...lol

Trin

Oh, I'm sorry for your sadness! So far both my kids live within 30 miles. My daughter is expecting her first in April and I wish they lived even closer. Can't imagine how you feel. Look on the bright side though; at least they came home for the Holidays!!! :)

I have one DS who lives about ten blocks away. That is very nice
My other son lives in NW Florida so I don't get to see him too often
My youngest son I lost in 2000 when he went to Hawaii to teach Sociology. He was at the beach and turned his back on one of those big waves.

The last thing I remember about him being home was the big bear hug I got when he left.
The party has been over for me for a long time.
I admit I do pretend that he is still over in Hawaii

That's too bad that they live so far. At least they still make an effort to come home, that says a lot.

My daughter moved to a farm about two hours away. I miss her lots even though we e-mail almost everyday. It does help to know that she's very happy with her life and where she's at. Happy New Years, Rosemary.

(((hugs))) to all of you with children away from home.

Special ones for (((Debi_2006))) and (((Minnie_tx))).

Here is a big hug for you "Minnie".

Sue

Thanks I don't mention it too often just had a little pity party ar your alls expense

Rosemary, are you signed up for Skype on the internet? It is free, that is how we get to see our kids and Grands, 2 SILs are military so they are far from VA, one is in FL, on in CA. Check it out! We got to watch the CA babies unwrap their gifts Christmas morning. It is great!

I feel for your sadness, that feeling of emptiness in your heart that gets rekindled when we part from loved ones after a short meeting following a long period apart and as we anticipate the long period till we meet again. I regret that you are hurting and lonely.

Some time ago I said on another thread that it seemed to me that one of our major tasks as a parent is to enourage, help and support our children as they move toward independence and begin to live their own separate and self-dependent lives, along with their expanded loyalties to others whom they've come to love. Someone there agreed, saying that it is important that our children learn progressivley to live their own lives.

At the same time, I think that it is equally important for us to develop other interests and friends, ourselves, so that our lives are full and interesting - that is, that we ourselves become more independent, as well. It's important that we keep growing and learning, building various new issues and systems into our lives ... so that we have scarcely any time to feel more than an infrequent and fleeting feeling of loneliness and loss over the independence of our offspring.

In recent generations as our society became more fluid, often our familes are dispersed over wide areas, meaning that our personal contact with them has been much less frequent ... which can be somewhat lessened by such systems as Skype, as was referred to.

Some years ago when we were a missionary community in Korea, a number of the children came to refer to other families' members as aunts and uncles ... though, as I recall (we didn't have a child/children old enough to inter-relate much, though some girls from 6 or so to mid-teens on our compound in a small city took an interest in our child just about year and a half old), the other children generally didn't refer to the other children as cousins - though they did play together and attended foreign school together, in addition to the friendships with Korean children which they developed.

It seems to me that it might be a wise idea for us to find alternate, semi-grandkids and younger adults locally that we can relate to on a frequent, albeit less intense, basis than with our own family members.

It seems to me that one wouldn't jump quickly into such relationships, but let them build over time, as we explored the personalities, likes and interests of the others, for compatibility, etc. I have found that such relationships build easily with other compatible people that I meet in church, especially one where there is quite a warm spirit. I asked at coffee hour a few weeks ago who felt that they needed a hug ... and three or four asked for one.

There's a big, old, interesting and wonderful world out there - find a bunch of new interests ... and help build some positive things, to help heal the sickness that it's suffering, these days.

May God help you build an increasing sense of peace in our heart, assuaging your sense of loss as you consider the departure of those loved ones: such a task is a co-operative project, I think - that we shouldn't expect God to do all on His/Her own.

Have you heard this alternative verse to a familiar old hymn:
"Sit down, O men of God,
Ye cannot do a thing:
In God's own time, at His own pace,
He will do everything!".

ole joyful