Goonie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
In that case, it's only me and dear ol' Mom here in town, or anywhere even close. Siblings are 700 & 900 miles away, and their offspring are between 700 & 2000 miles away. Life is [-]good[/-] great!!!
Who have family all in town?
- Thread starter NW-Bound
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Khan
Gone but not forgotten
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2006
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- 6,924
In that case, it's only me and dear ol' Mom here in town, or anywhere even close. Siblings are 700 & 900 miles away, and their offspring are between 700 & 2000 miles away. Life is [-]good[/-] great!!!
I'm in OH, sister in VA (don't know where all her children and grandchildren are), don't know where father is. That's all for immediate.
Goonie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Yeah, my sister tried several times over the years to put together a 'family reunion'...but due to utter lack of interest on everyone's part (except her's, of course), it never happened...and most likely never will! Thank God!!!
She did succeed once, though, in getting her (now) ex-hubby's family to one....but NONE of her relatives wanted anything to do with it! Although absolutely none of the relatives (his OR hers) were from Arizona...nor had any connection with Arizona....she planned it for Arizona...in freaking July! WTF! Why not Barrow, Alaska in January instead?! I know...I know...."but it's a dry heat".
Or maybe more realistically, how about somewhere a little more centrally located...which would have put it somewhere around Tennessee....since 99% of all the relatives (his & hers) lived east of the Mississippi River, in a triangle from New Orleans, to Boston, to Chicago. 
Did I happen to mention anywhere, that I'm not part of a really tight-knit (or too tightly wrapped either) family?
tightasadrum
Full time employment: Posting here.
My only DD is going to college 300 miles away. She was here for Christmas except for the time she had to return to college town to work.
Only brother is 45 miles away. We all went up to visit them and his new grandson last week.
DW's brother is 4 hours away. He also came up to visit for three days between Christmas and New Years.
Two cousins and their families will be here next weekend. They are 90 minutes away.
Have an aunt that is 600 miles away. We won't see here until after the new year starts.
Mother-in-law lives here in town. All other close relatives are deceased.
We plan to visit close friends for an swearing in party on the 20th. (I think this is a set up since everybody else attending the party are die-hard Republicans.) But we vacationed to Costa Rica with this group, so it should be a real blast.
As time goes by I find that getting together with friends and family is really what life is all about.
Only brother is 45 miles away. We all went up to visit them and his new grandson last week.
DW's brother is 4 hours away. He also came up to visit for three days between Christmas and New Years.
Two cousins and their families will be here next weekend. They are 90 minutes away.
Have an aunt that is 600 miles away. We won't see here until after the new year starts.
Mother-in-law lives here in town. All other close relatives are deceased.
We plan to visit close friends for an swearing in party on the 20th. (I think this is a set up since everybody else attending the party are die-hard Republicans.) But we vacationed to Costa Rica with this group, so it should be a real blast.
As time goes by I find that getting together with friends and family is really what life is all about.
Rich_by_the_Bay
Moderator Emeritus
A great hole in our lives is not being in proximity to either set of kids and young grandkids. I don't think we are naive in thinking that living near them would be a Norman Rockwell painting, but we both feel that being within a comfortable day's drive (if not down the street) would be meaningful.
These circumstances seem to be related to careers and education. We ourselves were in a period of frequent career-related moves when they made some of their choices, and maybe they would have ended up nearer to us if we had been in a stable location during those years. Or maybe not.
Anyway, it is a major source of discussion and decision angst for us as we contemplate semi-retirement with no relatives here in Tampa. Friends, plenty of them, but it's not the same for us.
These circumstances seem to be related to careers and education. We ourselves were in a period of frequent career-related moves when they made some of their choices, and maybe they would have ended up nearer to us if we had been in a stable location during those years. Or maybe not.
Anyway, it is a major source of discussion and decision angst for us as we contemplate semi-retirement with no relatives here in Tampa. Friends, plenty of them, but it's not the same for us.
youbet
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Same kind of feelings here Rich. Except in our case, ours are nearby and we refer to the grandkids as "our little anchors" who keep us from moving away.
W2R
Moderator Emeritus
My brother in St. Louis arranged for a family reunion at his house back in 2002 - - the first in about 50 years. Quite a few attended. It was very odd hanging out with dozens and dozens of (mostly) complete strangers, all of whom looked like me!Yeah, my sister tried several times over the years to put together a 'family reunion'...but due to utter lack of interest on everyone's part (except her's, of course), it never happened...and most likely never will! Thank God!!!
She did succeed once, though, in getting her (now) ex-hubby's family to one....but NONE of her relatives wanted anything to do with it! Although absolutely none of the relatives (his OR hers) were from Arizona...nor had any connection with Arizona....she planned it for Arizona...in freaking July! WTF! Why not Barrow, Alaska in January instead?! I know...I know...."but it's a dry heat".
Did I happen to mention anywhere, that I'm not part of a really tight-knit (or too tightly wrapped either) family?
Very nice people, but a strange experience.
two4theroad
Recycles dryer sheets
Both my parents were only children so no aunts, uncles or cousins to count. My brother and sister and families live within 5 hours away. Four of DH's six brothers and sisters as well as his mother,his daughter and grandson live within a 4 hour drive. So we see them on lots of weekend trips.
Now to answer the town part. We live on 7 acres with 3 houses on the property. My 71 year old dad lives in one, my 91 year old grandmother lives in another. We have cared for my grandmother for many years, I just got a full time live in lady to stay with her. (Which is also another story...she is a relative of a friend who wanted to live out in the country and wanted to work off room and board for elder care, what a deal!) My mother lives about 10 miles away in town.
Because of the close proximity (close in Texas terms) to most our close relatives we also have been able to spend most of our vacations traveling to parts unknown rather than shuttling back and forth to relatives homes.
We have been throwing around the idea of renting a large house or multi-home property and getting all the family together for some time. The logisitics are monumental....
I think the 4 hour distance is just about ideal for so many relatives. Close enough to visit easily but far enough away that daily BS doesn't build up.
We plan on traveling more now that we have the grandma patrol covered. We are off for 8 days in Nevada and Utah tomorrow!
Hasta la vista,
2fer
Now to answer the town part. We live on 7 acres with 3 houses on the property. My 71 year old dad lives in one, my 91 year old grandmother lives in another. We have cared for my grandmother for many years, I just got a full time live in lady to stay with her. (Which is also another story...she is a relative of a friend who wanted to live out in the country and wanted to work off room and board for elder care, what a deal!) My mother lives about 10 miles away in town.
Because of the close proximity (close in Texas terms) to most our close relatives we also have been able to spend most of our vacations traveling to parts unknown rather than shuttling back and forth to relatives homes.
We have been throwing around the idea of renting a large house or multi-home property and getting all the family together for some time. The logisitics are monumental....
I think the 4 hour distance is just about ideal for so many relatives. Close enough to visit easily but far enough away that daily BS doesn't build up.
We plan on traveling more now that we have the grandma patrol covered. We are off for 8 days in Nevada and Utah tomorrow!
Hasta la vista,
2fer
Skookum. A new one for me. Looks like a regionalism for your part of the country. Cool.
I am with you on family.
OP
OP
NW-Bound
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2008
- Messages
- 35,712
I defined immediate family as parents, siblings and their offsprings because that was my situation. Then, I realized that an uncle, aunt, any surviving great aunt or uncle, or cousins that you are close to ARE also family. It's really about the mutual feeling, not the lineage distance.
Myself, my brothers and my sister, all went to the same intown state university. Then, we all chose to take intown jobs, too lazy to move, and perhaps deep inside also not wanting to leave the "clan". Most of our offsprings also went to the same university, except 2 that escaped. In all, we have 12 alumni including my wife's side, with some more to come!
I got along with my brothers and sister a lot better than most families, perhaps due in part to our economic situations not being too far apart. We also never tell each other how to spend his or her money.
Among siblings, I am the only one who ever thought of voluntarily moving somewhere else, and then it was only for a 2nd home in retirement. We have declined, or refused to look for job offers elsewhere, preferring to stay intown. Early in my career, I declined an out-of-state job offer with 25% salary increase. Well, the higher cost of housing in LA was a big part, but the unwillingness to move was also a factor. My brothers have put a lot of money into their McMansions, and it would break their hearts to move if they have to, due to unforeseen job situations.
Our offsprings also get along, and they viewed each other more as siblings than as cousins. We have had so many family get-togethers on weekends that, growing up, my children were disappointed that we skipped some weeks. Oh, they fought when young, then kissed and made up, but just like siblings. I did not have much in common with my cousins, and have no such relationship with them.
It was also good that my wife got along well with my younger sister-in-laws. In fact they regarded my wife as an older (and wiser) sister. I have observed that good or bad, most of the time, it is the spousal influence that drives brothers and sisters apart.
About being close to aging parents, that helps everybody tremenduously. I can't count the nights I spent in the ER with my father (who passed away), offering to relieve my mother, and being semi-retired having more flexibility than others still working.
So, as long as I remember to walk away from my brother's ideological political rant, we will do OK. To give him credit, we all avoided that minefield these recent Thanksgiving, Xmas, New Year get-togethers, and concentrated more on what we have in common. Life is great!
Myself, my brothers and my sister, all went to the same intown state university. Then, we all chose to take intown jobs, too lazy to move, and perhaps deep inside also not wanting to leave the "clan". Most of our offsprings also went to the same university, except 2 that escaped. In all, we have 12 alumni including my wife's side, with some more to come!
I got along with my brothers and sister a lot better than most families, perhaps due in part to our economic situations not being too far apart. We also never tell each other how to spend his or her money.
Among siblings, I am the only one who ever thought of voluntarily moving somewhere else, and then it was only for a 2nd home in retirement. We have declined, or refused to look for job offers elsewhere, preferring to stay intown. Early in my career, I declined an out-of-state job offer with 25% salary increase. Well, the higher cost of housing in LA was a big part, but the unwillingness to move was also a factor. My brothers have put a lot of money into their McMansions, and it would break their hearts to move if they have to, due to unforeseen job situations.
Our offsprings also get along, and they viewed each other more as siblings than as cousins. We have had so many family get-togethers on weekends that, growing up, my children were disappointed that we skipped some weeks. Oh, they fought when young, then kissed and made up, but just like siblings. I did not have much in common with my cousins, and have no such relationship with them.
It was also good that my wife got along well with my younger sister-in-laws. In fact they regarded my wife as an older (and wiser) sister. I have observed that good or bad, most of the time, it is the spousal influence that drives brothers and sisters apart.
About being close to aging parents, that helps everybody tremenduously. I can't count the nights I spent in the ER with my father (who passed away), offering to relieve my mother, and being semi-retired having more flexibility than others still working.
So, as long as I remember to walk away from my brother's ideological political rant, we will do OK. To give him credit, we all avoided that minefield these recent Thanksgiving, Xmas, New Year get-togethers, and concentrated more on what we have in common. Life is great!
redmcclain
Dryer sheet aficionado
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Messages
- 37
My family - father, two siblings & their spouses/children along with 6 cousins and their respective spouses/children all live on one hill in Appalachia. My great-grandfather obtained approximately 50 acres after immigrating to America which has been divided multiple times and passed down to each generation. I moved away when I was 18.
Payin-the-Toll
Recycles dryer sheets
We had daughter, her husband, the 2 grandkids (160 mi drive), other daughter and husband (260 mi. drive) here for the weekend after Christmas. 3rd daughter lives in Coos Bay OR. and couldn't afford to come home. Whenever we go to visit them we have to sleep in the basement on couches or the floor (they have nice houses but a little small in some respects). We slept 8 all in beds in bedrooms (grandson in baby-type bed) in my 50-yr. old junky ranch house. Kids were always telling me to throw out those old beds and convert bedrooms to den, sewing room, library, etc., but I think in this case 'Father did know best'.
unclemick
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Does the USA count as a neighborhood? Last sept. - family reunion Nags Head.
Washington D.C.
Kansas City, MO
Pensacola, FL
San Diego, CA
Reno, NV
Portland, OR
Seattle, WA
Going by the nearest big city - 13 adults - sorta nearby - given modern transportation - right?
heh heh heh - Plus no one came by boat.
Washington D.C.
Kansas City, MO
Pensacola, FL
San Diego, CA
Reno, NV
Portland, OR
Seattle, WA
Going by the nearest big city - 13 adults - sorta nearby - given modern transportation - right?
heh heh heh -
Plus no one came by boat.
