Why Long-Distance Relationships (With Your ... - Complete Blogging

Its 8 oclock on a Friday night and my one-and-a-half year old son is laying across my lap. As he sucks on his pacifier and twirls his hair, I gaze at the clock and, for once, pray for him to stay awake. My parents flight has just landed in San Jose, and theyll be back at my place in an hour. I know theyre eagerly anticipating seeing their grandson, but his bedtime has already come and gone. His eyelids are heavy, and though I try to keep him quietly entertained, his eyes begin to droop and his lashes close like a Venus flytrap.

When Mom and Dad walk in the door, they give me one of those meaningful hugs, but their eyes take in the dimmed lights, the glow of the barely audible TV and they know they are too late. Theyll have to wait one more day to give Lucas a goodnight kiss.

For any other grandparents visiting grandchildren who live nearby, missing out on a goodnight kiss is no big deal. But for my parents and me, its one more insult to injury, one less evening for Lucas to get to know his Mimi and his Grandpa. It may seem like a minor detail, but its in tiny moments like these that the emotional fuckery of a long-distance relationship with family takes its toll. No mention of my parents disappointment is made, but I read it all over their faces, and it translates roughly to Why did you leave us?

I didnt intend to leave them. I was an East Coast girl born and raised, and I imagined Id always live a comfortable, but not daunting, distance: New York to their Massachusetts. It was that way for nine years until I randomly met my future husband in Las Vegas and fell crazy in love. After a few months of bi-coastal dating, I followed him to California, where he lived near his family, thinking itd be a temporary move. (We both agreed to look for jobs back in Massachusetts. But after several months of soul-sucking job searches that yielded no results, I started applying in California and landed a job within a week.)

Life and circumstances intervened, and here we are married, in steady jobs, homeowners, parents ? and still in California. Now, with the burden of adult responsibilities on our shoulders, a cross-country move (and for me, yet ANOTHER cross-country move) feels like a task too monumental to undertake. Like it or not, our roots have taken hold, and although its not what I had originally envisioned, I must admit that we have a very lovely life here.

Yet my family back in Massachusetts has had a very hard time comprehending the permanence of our situation. They still cajole us to come back to the East Coast. They still poke and prod when I mention looking for a new house in a nearby California community. (You know what kind of house you could buy here in Massachusetts with that money?! Yes Dad, I do know. Sigh.) And, now that Lucas has come along, theres a heightened sensitivity that wasnt there before. Suddenly, going six months between visits feels like a lifetime ? because for a baby, it pretty much is.

Rewind to about a year ago: Im in the car on the way to pick up my parents from the airport. Lucas is just six months old, but his little personality is already forming. Hes sensitive to strangers, but warms up for familiar faces, especially those of his Papa Cano and his Abuelita. He coos and giggles in the back seat while I attempt to prep him for my parents arrival.

Your Mimi and Grandpa are at the airport! Were going to pick them up now, are you excited?

Bah bah bah bah bah!

Yes, thats right, Lucas! Mimi and Grandpa. You know Mimi and Grandpa. They love you very much. They cant wait to see you.

As I pull up to the sidewalk, I see my folks, poised anxiously on their toes, big grins stretching across their tired faces. (Its a long flight from East to West.) I open the door and pop Lucas out of the car seat, handing him over to my mom. He immediately begins to wail. I try to cover it up, explaining that he does this with everyone now, but the damage has been done. Tears spring to my mothers eyes as she clears her throat and begins a list of her own excuses for Lucas behavior.

Source: http://www.completeblogging.com/?p=3316

lake havasu halo 4 jewel san francisco earthquake san francisco earthquake terminator salvation terminator salvation