All my cousins and their families, for the most part, live in different towns, most in different states – and this goes for both sides of my immediate family. The only and last Ohio uncle I had alive just passed away 10 days ago.
Less than five years ago he and my aunt had moved to a sunnier state. He suddenly became deathly ill and passed away. Saturday was his Ohio memorial service at the church of his childhood, where one of his brothers still attends.
Even when my uncle and aunt lived in Ohio, not long ago, they lived a far drive away and we didn’t see them very often but we still did at times. We weren’t super close, but upon hearing of his death one thing hit me hard – he was the closest uncle I had. I actually felt a stab of pain realizing he was gone. The closest uncle I had. All my other uncles are spread around the USA.
My uncle’s only child, my cousin and I talked about how important family is and how we need to make it a point to spend time together.
He gets it.
And, its something I do too. Its been on my mind for some time how I just need to find a way to make it happen. I want my boys to know their family better. To be more familiar with their family. But we are so spread out and people are busy and we have different schedules. Its going to take effort to make it happen.
I want my boys to have those memories and relationships.
Yes, Facebook is awesome for that reason! My mom, sisters and sis’n’laws have a private group page for family business but most of our husbands aren’t into Facebook much if at all. I live out of town from all my close relatives and all my mom’s side of the family live in other states. If it wasn’t for FB we wouldn’t even be in touch the little we are.
Thank you for the kind words 🙂
I am so blessed to live very close to most of my family and am able to see them often. It’s so easy to take that for granted. Thanks for reminding me. Blessings on your family as you grieve and I hope you are able to find ways to stay connected despite the distance you face.
So sorry for your loss Tracy. I lost my dad barely a year ago. I too live far away from my family. That is the one good thing about facebook. I created a family group and added all my family to it. We have shared many old, old photos thru it, and brought back so many childhood memories.
Thanks for the kind words, Shelly. Nice to hear from someone who understands the distance 🙂
So sorry to hear of your uncle’s passing. I have a large extended family that mostly lives in St Louis, but my family was the oddball branch that always lived somewhere else. I see my cousins who grew up near each other and how well they know one another and wish I had the relationships they have. I hope you are able to get around to seeing your far-flung family, it would be nice I’m sure, not just for your boys but for you as well. All the best in this difficult time.