Comments on: Living By Family: the Good and the Bad

By: Alison

Alison — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I have to catch up on my bloggers on the weekends, and I am just reading this now. I love hearing about you and your family. You are my inspiration! My husband and I got married in October of 2010 and moved to Pomona (LA County), CA since. We live three hours from my family, and the first few years were so difficult! I’ve always been so close to them, but it has been such a blessing for my husband and me to bond and make our own traditions. My husband is the only child and both his parents have passed away. So I don’t have any in laws and no kids yet, but we have met the coolest friends that are practically family now. I can totally relate! I’m so happy that you and your family are settling in a home so close to family. What a blessing! I love hearing about your house updates. I can’t wait to see it finished

By: kailee wright

kailee wright — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 17:40:26 +0000

In reply to Heather. Yes it is so crazy how what you think is going to be the hardest thing in the world turns out to have a few amazing blessings as well! Thank you so much for sharing...I love hearing from you!!

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 23:37:43 +0000

I think you totally nailed it! Both my husband and I are from Utah and two years ago we headed east for a job in New York. It has been a crazy ride but also fun to really make our own traditions. And it is crazy how your friends and community start to fill in some of the gaps of family. Not to say that we don’t love when we get family time. I think it makes it almost more special when my boys get one on one time with their grandparents when we do get together. Also, I’ve recently started following you and you are just the sweetest!

By: kailee wright

kailee wright — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 23:11:23 +0000

In reply to Heather. Yes you described it perfectly! Leaving our friends was just about as hard as the day we moved away from family!

By: kailee wright

kailee wright — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 23:10:35 +0000

In reply to Kari. What an amazing hidden blessing! I'm so glad you were able to make that special bond, especially a time you probably really needed it. Thank you so much for sharing + being part of this space!

By: kailee wright

kailee wright — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 23:08:51 +0000

In reply to Nina. Yes! So hard to just jump in it, but so many good things have come from being on our own too!

By: Nina

Nina — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 11:42:55 +0000

I really appreciate hearing your thoughts and perspectives on this! My husband and I are currently talking about moving out of state. Right now, we’re 15 mins away from both of our families! We don’t have littles yet but it will probably be in the next couple years. Leaving family is the biggest thing holding me back from saying “okay let’s go on this adventure!” So it’s nice to hear from other that have experienced it, even feeling the same fears I do, but who say it’s all going to be okay 🙂

By: Kari

Kari — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 01:05:11 +0000

About 2.5 years ago, we moved 10 hours away from my family – from Minnesota to Illinois. We found the same to be true for us – we have friends who are like family, and it has brought us closer as a family. We adopted both of our kids, and when we were close to family, I feel I wasn’t as bonded with my oldest. He had me, my husband, my parents, etc, and he was bonded to all of us. But it kind of felt to me like I was no more important to him than my parents were. Since being down here, he is definitely more bonded to us than to anyone else, and we did not at all have the same bonding experience with our second (who we adopted while down here). With her it was easy, and it felt like she bonded with us much easier. But yes. We long for bigger cheering sections, for taking real vacations that aren’t just to see family, for free babysitting and date nights, and for weekends away for the two of us. We do plan to move back home, and I am very much looking forward to it, but man. The community we have built here is so great, and we have really loved it here. This feels like home to us too, and it is going to be extremely hard to leave.

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 23:43:31 +0000

We have lived away from family for the better part of 14 years. We’ve had 3 children in that time, none of which were born in our home state. But we’ve loved it. Our grandparents are getting older and that’s hard, but it’s been so good to be on our own. We visit family often and they visit us and those visits are enough to satisfy a longing to see them. But like you said, we have made friends (young and old) that have become family to us. Thinking about leaving them makes me sad and I think that’s how friendship should be.

By: kailee wright

kailee wright — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 22:50:56 +0000

In reply to Amanda. Oh Amanda! I'm sorry it has been rough...I know exactly how you feel and probably cried for weeks straight. But I promise it gets better and you will love strengthening your little unit so much! Thank you for sharing!