I Wish We Lived Closer

Because my parents are divorced.  Because I married a man who's home is 1700 miles away.  Because I went to undergraduate school in Chicago and graduate school in Ohio.  I have a lot of family and friends who live far away.

My husband and I try to do our best to keep in touch with our loved ones via phone, Face Time on the iPads, facebook, and text messaging...but the reality is, we really wish that we could just grab a cup of coffee and see them face-to-face.

Both of my sister-in-laws that live far away have boys.  One has two boys and the other has four.  So, I love to hear their rough and tumble stories about having a house full of testosterone while they get to hear the fun melodrama of managing princesses, fairies and ballerinas with my two little girls and dinosaurs and legos with my son.

My best friend from college lives in New Hampshire and runs a bed and breakfast in Maine.  She has adorable twin babies that are close to the age of my Claire.  We are lucky if we get to see each other once a year and now that we have more children our odds are even less.

It's a beautiful thing to wake up, grab a cup of joe, log onto facebook and see a photo of someone I love being themselves.  Likewise, I enjoy sharing our crazy family moments.  I am grateful that technology has made it faster, easier, and less expensive to share memories than it ever used to be.  I am also grateful that social networking tools like facebook and blogs help us stay connected to people we may have never known how to locate otherwise. But I really miss seeing their faces, taking in their smiles, sharing our lives and building memories in real time. 

While all of these gadgets have made our lives more connected, I wish that there was a time machine to quickly and cheaply transport us in physical space.  That would be amazing and so very appreciated.