Miles apart but close in heart

I moved to Colorado almost thirty years ago. I drive to Kansas once or twice a year to see my family. I drove out for all the high school graduations of my many nieces and nephews. I have also made the trip for college graduations and weddings. Even though I chose to move away, I hate missing out on family gatherings.

My sisters and a few of my nieces are getting together at my sister Cindy's house this weekend and I won't be there. (My Alabama sister won't be there either.) I know they're going to have a lot of fun and some great conversations and I'm going to miss it. I want to be there. But I am going out of town in a couple of weeks for a conference. Plus my husband didn't seem to want me to go this time. (He usually enjoys having a couple of days to himself.) It's such a long trip, I decided to wait until I have time for a longer visit.

My mother also moved away from her family, even farther than my 550 miles. It must have been hard for her to live away from family for 48 years. She didn't get to visit as often as I do. It's much harder and more expensive to travel with kids so we visited grandma and grandpa and the aunts and uncles every few years or so.

I don't remember her exact words, but I remember my grandma sharing her wish that her grand kids could somehow be magically transported to Indiana from Kansas. If only we could have used Facetime in those days.

My brother Gerry lives in Bali Indonesia and his daughters live in San Diego. We don't get to see the girls or him often enough. My niece Ashley also lives in California and frequently posts pictures of her family. Even though her trips don't often coincide with mine, I'm glad to see that she often travels home to see family.

Distance is just a test to see how far love can travel. It travels from Colorado to California and to Kansas and to Pennsylvania and to Indiana and to Bali and wherever my family is. Side by side or miles apart, family is always close to my heart.