Thursday 25 April 2013

My family, the internet

My family, the internet.

Eight years ago I made the decision to move “up north” with my now husband, 150 miles (give or take), from my family. Now, I suppose that I haven’t really lived with my family for a few years before this, after spending a few years getting drunk working around Greece and Cyprus. This move just felt more permanent, there would be no more coming home for the winter with a new tan a few kilos lost and a hundred and one stories to tell, just me, my man and my house.

Now that we are a family, people often ask me what it is like raising a family so far away from my own.

I do sometimes regret that my son will never have the close relationship with his cousins that I had with mine, however I suppose there is no guarantee that would happen even if we all lived in the same street. Although I suppose it will spare him the trauma of being hit in the face with a cricket bat by a cruel relative who was less than helpful in assisting me where to stand now that I was “wicketkeeper”.
To be completely honest, sometimes it does feel a little isolating, but then, I realise, actually, I may be geographically far from everyone, but, they are never really far from me.

My mum is always on the end of the phone if I need her, and then you have the medium of social media. There is nothing to put a smile on my face quite like seeing what my family are up to, seeing smiling pictures of their children after school plays, dance rehearsals, footie games.....Feeling like you are reconnecting with your family and friends again, realising that you have the same sense of humour as a cousin in Australia you have not seen since you were 16, being able to show support instantly to the people you care about or joking around with someone you haven’t seen, in person since you were drunk, in the back of their car, singing along to Lady Marmalade whilst waiting for them to finish work.

Now, since the advent of smartphones, it’s so much easier to keep in touch, whether it’s a long phone call or a 140 character snippet. So, I suppose now, when people ask if I miss my family I can always smile and say not really, we are always in each others pockets.

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