Who here doesn't live near any family?

[ChiTownZee]

Does anyone else here not live near any family? Having my MIL visit and the upcoming holiday's have me missing being around family. I do this everytime we have guests or a holiday. We're in FL, my family is in Chicago, and his is in Philly. Nobody is even within driving distance. I love to plan big meals around the holiday's but I keep thinking about how it's only the 3 of us, I was raised with EVERYONE being around at the holiday's. :( Anyone else in the same boat?

[wvjules]

I live near TOO much family! No one ever moves away!

I know the holiday's must be tough without a lot of family around to spend it with. :( {{{{hugs}}}}

[Deb in IA]

Not quite as far . . .

We are in Iowa, and most of our family is in Indiana. In-laws live about 340 miles away -- a good 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive. Mine are 450 miles away.

Knowing that in our families, at least, distance makes the heart grow fonder, maybe it's better this way.

I think if we lived any closer, we would drive each other crazy!! But it would be nice to see brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews a bit more often . . .:(

[figmentvi]

Me... I hate not having family near :( :( I would love to be able to see my children and grandchildren more often.

[Kermit]

My sister lives about 45 minutes away, but that's it. My parents and DH's mom's family live in Texas (my parents in San Antonio, his mom outside of Fort Worth). His dad's family lives in Michigan. It does get lonely sometimes, but I don't think it's as hard on me as it is on some other people. My parents both lived very far away from their families when I was growing up, so I grew up thinking that adults don't live by their families.

[Marla Hellwig]

Wishing I lived farther way here

[Cindy B]

Mine live about 35-50 miles away... its fine with me.

Its about an hour away (got to love downtown Philly traffic all the time!)

Sometimes it take 2 hours to get to my parents...(the 50 mile ones)


It has gotten so we don't see them except for holidays and we are only one state away.


On Saturday, all of my DH's siblings (except for one, who will be in Florida), will be at our house... its very very exciting.

[tc]

My inlaws live about 45 minutes away. A good distance, too closed for them to come stay at my house, and far enough away to not see them all the time.

My family lives in the midwest, i.e. Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky. I am no closed to them, so it's not bad. I'd like to be closer to one sister, she lives in St. Louis. I am not big on family gatherings, too much stress.

My dd (21) goes to school in Kansas, about 8 hours away. She always comes home for holidays. When the girls grow up and get married (or whatever they choose to do) I want to live near them, or have enough cash to fly often.

[AngieBelle]

I have no family in TN beyond my immediate family. We moved here from CA when I was 10 and our first Thanksgiving here was so depressing! We went from big family dinners to just the 4 of us. And next year, I'm moving on my own to Florida with no family anywhere near. I'm thankful I already have friends in the Orlando area.

[PandyPaws]

Not too much family around here...My mom and both of my brothers are in California. Two of DH's sisters are fairly close; one 10 miles away, the other is about 25 miles. His brother is also about 25 miles away....his other 3 sisters are out of state. MIL is in PA ( but it's still not far enough, IMHO :p )
I have a few cousins that I grew up with fairly close, in the NYC area....the rest of my family is spread out all over the country.

[minniecarousel]

I have 7 siblings. They are all here in the Bay Area except one - he's in Louisiana. My parents moved all of us from Ohio to California when I was 6 years old - all of their families are still in Ohio. It must have been sooo difficult to move that far away - they came from such close families. (I know I couldn't do it!)

[Disney845]

Used to be within 25 min of my mom, uncle, cousin, SO mom and brother, SO grandma/grandpa, SO aunt/uncle/2 cousins. Then we moved to Indy! SO has an aunt and uncle in Ohio, as well as most of the extended family (grandmother and grandfather's brothers/sisters and all their kids) but we do not see them often. Actually we have only seen them once since moving here from FL. Thanksgiving will be sad, but maybe we will go to Ohio. Yeah for Christmas b/c we are going home to FL to be with our families.

[tiggerlover]

I am way too far away from my family and friends. I am in Italy and most of my family is in NY, NJ and PA.

:bounce::wave::bounce:

[sydally9367]

I have family everywhere-LOL! My Mom lives in the Virgin Islands, my MIL lives in California, my sisters and the rest of my family live in Massachusetts. We aren't too far from my sisters, but it's still hard to not spend every holiday with them when we have to divide our time on different coasts.

[tkd lisa]

We're about 600 miles from my in-laws. They still live in Indiana, and we moved about 6 years ago. What we do for the holiday is plan a very nice meal at a fancy restaurant. It gives us a chance to dress up, and we end up spending about what we would if I bought all the traditional fixings. The downside is that we don't get leftovers!

The first year we were here, we went to a buffet place for Thanksgiving dinner, and I just cried because I missed our family so much!

[mamajoan]

We live in California most of the rest of extended family lives in Illinois, as does most of long time friends. Holidays can be the worst time for missing huge family gatherings..
My parents told us that nobody would want us around when we first got married (that mixed/bi-racial marriage thing). It was nice to find out later that it was untrue.

We have made our own family traditions. My oldest tries to continue these traditions when he is unable to get leave for the holidays. So I suggest incorporating some of your old traditions with new ones. It takes a little of the sting out of not being with family members.
Joan

[caitycaity]

me!

the closest are my parents in NE connecticut. my sister lives in syracuse, ny. the rest of mine and dh's family lives in california, michigan, oregon, and washington state.

it's really hard (not to mention expensive) being so far away sometimes.

[kylara]

I live in FL and all my family lives in MA. My SO doesn't have any family in this area either, but he does have a good friend who live nearby and and the friends parents do too, so they treat us as if we belong to their family.

[becka]

We also live far away from family.

My in-laws live 2 hours away but my family is over 7 hours away. We probably see DH's family once every two months but we usually see my family twice a year. It was hard when it was just DH and I but now that we have DS it is really difficult. These are the first holidays for DS and not being able to spend it with family is making me feel really, really sad. :(

[TennVolTony]

All of my family is 900 miles away.... :(

[nativetxn]

I used to be in that boat. We were way up north in Michigan and everyone else was on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Then my mother moved up here to have cooler summers. Then my brother moved up here to be near our mother.

Most of our family is in Texas, still, but at least my mother is nearby.

I used to get so sad at Thanksgiving when we didn't drive home :(

[#1 Disney Fan]

Us too.

It's just my parents and I here now. My cousin moved here to go to school, but other than that all of the rest of our family and extended family pretty much lives out in southern and eastern Ontario (we're in Manitoba).

[Beanie]

My family lives 1400 miles away from me!! :( I have DH's family here, but it is not the same to me...it is not like having my Mom right up the road...I miss her all the time...even at my age! :(

[p-nut]

My family lives in South Florida and my in-laws are in Texas. I have not spent the Holidays with my family for fourteen years. I only seem to get home during the hot, humid summer months.

[snoopy]

Of my 8 siblings, 4 still live near me, in the area we grew up.

One brother lives in China. Haven't seen him in almost 3 years. He's a reporter on assignment there, but he'll be back home to the States at the beginning of next year, I'm so looking forward to seeing him and his family again.

Two of my brothers live in Manhattan, the other close by in Greenwich, CT. Just a hop skip and a jump away, we see them often.

I love having most of my family close by, but I do wish they'd learn to call before they come by. :)

[Barb]

We've been "on our own" for 23 years now. (I think it gets harder as we get older.) My sister lives the closest and that's about 4 1/2 hours away. We've managed to make our own traditions and memories, too. It does help to ease that sense of us being alone. We used to make the trip to Buffalo for Christmas every year, but our sons didn't like not spending Christmas in their own home. DH and I agreed. So we stay home now and have a very quiet, peaceful day at home. :)

[tedsmom]

We live near much family, both on mine and DH's side. My parents are about 10 minutes away. My brother ia baout 20 minutes away. One of his sisters is about 5minutes away, the other is about 30 minutes away (although she is soon moving). He has one sister who moved to the midwest, who now expects everyone to fly out there at the drop of a hat. She's generally nasty and unpleasant, so needless to sya, no one rushes to see her. Of course, then we hear the song and dance about how she always flies here, but no one flies there. Easily remedied...don't come!

[EROS]

2800 miles from my family in California; about 1000 miles from my DW's family in Milwaukee:D :D :D :D ............

[Talking Hands]

WE live near the Florida Keys in So Dade and my inlaws live in the Florida panhandle. So do 2 of my husband's aunts and the other one lives in Jacksonville. My family what little that are still left live in the north and I rarely hear from them.

[luvmydogs]

Dh and I live @750 miles away from our families, who are in Whitehall (Allentown), PA. Miss them (and our friends and hometown) so much, especially around the holidays. Our son is the only grandchild on both sides--wish he could spend more time with his family.:(