Do you live near your families?

[lucie]

Are you surounded by family close by or are you living far apart from parents, aunts, uncles, cousins...?

If they are far, how do you cope not seeign them often or does is it not affect you?

[ellise]

My family is 16 hours from me (drive time) It's tough but you learn to manage.

Don's family is only about 3-3 1/2 hours from us (drive time) and we see them quite often.

[sunshine]

We're close to both sides. . . my parents currently live 8 miles from us, his mom is 7 miles from us, loads of aunts/uncles/cousins/2nd cousins, etc. (my dad is one of 10 kids- loads of cousins) My oldest son moved 6 miles away, when he bought his house.

So now, I'm having trouble coping with Doug being half way across the country from me (heaven help me if he gets deployed half a planet away!)

[Karen]

Dh's family is near by. I have a brother 40 miles or so away. My sister is 850 miles away in NW TN. I have another brother that I think is in or around Daytona, 1300 miles away, and another brother in Miami, 1500 miles away (give or take). My parents are both gone. Dad had a brother and a sister, but haven't spoken since their mother died 20+ years ago. My mother's sister and her family are in Germany.

[Deed]

For the most part, yes. Mom & Dad, younger brother and sis all live about 35 minutes from us. Older brother is about 1 hr 15 minutes away and older sis is 3,000 miles away.

Jack's Mom lives just in the next town about 10 minutes away. Older sis is about 45 minutes away and younger sis is about an hour and ½ away. We don't see his family much at all. They only call when they want something, other than his mom. Jack calls her faithfully at 7am everyday (when he is home).

[Deed]

Sorry forgot to put in about aunts, uncles and cousins. LOL I have to say I don't see them much at all anymore, mostly just for funerals anymore.

All my dad's family live about an hour from me, where dad grew up. And mom's family only her sis and one cousin live in this area now. All the rest have moved to either SC, FL or AZ.

Most of my dad's siblings have passed away. Dad is one of 10 children and only him an older sis and a younger brother are still with us. Mom is one of 4 children, her oldest brother has passed but her older sis and younger brother are both still here with us.

I'm one of 7 children, my youngest brother and oldest sister have also passed. I don't even see my nieces and nephews much anymore. Just my younger brother's 2 kids, all the others are grown and gone pretty much and have lives of thier own.

I haven't seen Jack's sister's in a long time. He has gone up and visited his oldest sis, but it's been years since we saw his younger sis.

I 'think' his mom was one of 8 children, she has one sis and one brother still living. Oh and she will be 90 on September 15th.

[katieanne]

good morning!! we live in the mountains and both my family and dh family live in the valley near phoenix,az. it takes about 31/2 hours to get to phoenix. we see family fairly often. we go down there in the winter because the warmth is nice after cold winters. they come up the mountain in the summer to escape 110 degree heat.

blessings, kate

[braided-rug]

All my family are in the same place basically, one uncle a few hours further away. I have days when I think I want to go home. I didn't visit them often so the day to day living is nearly the same. My husband's family is a bit further on, a couple of hours, and his uncles etc. a couple of extra hours.

[Admin]

Our family is scattered. My children live in Texas, Michigan and south central KY. My parents are both deceased as well as dh's folks. My sister and brother live in Michigan. Dh has a brother in Florida, a sister in Michigan and two brothers who live here by us in KY. His older brother who passed away last October, has a wife a two boys that live in Tennessee.

Dh has a big family of aunts, uncles and cousins, who mostly live here in KY. You can't go to the store without running into one of the cousins..LOL

My extended family lives mostly in Maryland, although I do have a cousin in CA and one in NY.

We try to see everyone as much as we can.

[beth]

I moved to New Zealand from Florida in 2002. Prior to that, my immediate family all lived within about 10 miles of each other - two sisters' families, both parents and their new families/partners.

Since then, Mom has moved with her partner to a town on Lake Michigan, in Indiana. She's been there 2 years.

Dad passed in July 2004. His second ex then took the two little kiddies to Missouri where Dad's dwindling family lives - a few aunts and uncles as he was one of 11.

Sister Debbie moved a couple months ago to Kentucky to be with her military hubby. After two miscarriages, she has a 1yo son I've met only once.

Sister Linda and her family are the only ones left in N Florida, and aside from her I have only 4 family members left anywhere in Florida now (an uncle who'd been married to a paternal aunt who died last year, and my mom's sister's family).

Linda has a hubby and two kids I adore and miss terribly. Her hubby is one of about 10 kids and I used to be very close to his family, before everyone grew up and got involved in their own lives and families.

I keep telling everyone that the next time I go to the US for a visit, I'm renting a place somewhere on a beach, and they can all come to me, instead of me trying to spend a few days here and a few days there!

By the way, when I do travel to the US, I have to allow for at least 24 hours of flight time and layover time. Not exactly a hop, skip and a jump.

[braided-rug]

Yes, getting to LA is one thing, then you have the rest to go.