As I've mentioned before, I live a VERY long way from my family. My husband and daughter and I live on the north end of the west coast, and they(his family and mine) live on the south end of the east coast. It doesn't get much farther than that (unless we move to Alaska, and who knows with us!). When we arrived here just over 5 years ago, our plan was to finish up our time in the navy, then move back to Georgia somewhere around Atlanta to settle down. WELL, he's been out of the navy for over a year now, and obviously that hasn't happened!
You see, we fell in love with this place. My husband got a fantastic job with our local police dept., and Georgia just doesn't quite compete. My daughter is involved in soccer and loves her school. We all have friends here. We love to go camping where the weather is perfect, there are no bugs or poisonous snakes, and the scenery is magical. You literally don't know what to expect any time you venture out of your house here. For instance, we usually get a gray whale once or twice a year that comes up and plays at the park across the street from our house. You can drive over a bridge just up the street and see Mt. Rainier to your right and the Olympics to your left. I was at the beach once with my daughter and mother-in-law and was surprised by a pod of orcas heading out into better fishing territory. Now THAT was a sight! You can drive or walk into a charming downtown area from my house and right onto a ferry boat waiting to take you on a beautiful sail to Seattle, where you can find any shopping, dining or entertainment you seek! Ok, I'm starting to sound like a tourism brochure, but you get the picture!
The only problem is that we feel a million miles away from our family. We want our daughter to have the benefit of those folks in her life. In fact, we decided about a year ago that perhaps we would move back to GA after all in a year or two. This was mostly at my insistence, because I was feeling quite homesick. I have quite a bit more extended family than my husband, so possibly I feel the pull a little more. Well, I went back for an extended visit, and it didn't really feel like home to me! The heat was oppressive, the bugs were HORRIBLE, and I missed my coffee shops and mountains in the morning. :-) I absolutely loved seeing my family, though. So, I decided that maybe a good solution would just be to plan annual long summer visits.
I was feeling much better about things until this week. My mother is indeed going to have some surgery that's going to put her out of commission for about 6 weeks. My mother is a fiesty, independent, bull-headed, self-sufficient woman who has lots of friends and a sister who is home during the day and lives within shouting distance. I KNOW that she will be well taken care of. My father had a heart attack a few years ago and it was so much work just to get down there that I almost couldn't go! I just feel like sometimes I would like to be closer to them! Being so physically far away makes it nearly impossible to help! My parents are nowhere near the age or physical stage where they need someone to help take care of them. It's just that being far away is so inconvenient! I just want to be able to hang out with them a little more often. If I was independently wealthy and liked flying a little more this wouldn't be a problem!
One day, they will be at the age where they might want their children nearby. Perhaps then it would be time for us to move a little closer. Maybe I should just quit stressing, enjoy my good life, and see what happens. Yeah, that's not really my nature. :-) I know that I don't want to move back to Georgia this year. What I don't know is whether I will want to move there in 3 years, or 10 years. But am I supposed to know that? For now, I'll just concentrate on visiting and try to make my mind be still!
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