Monday, January 14, 2013

Seems like they will be miles away....

Well this has been a very emotional week for my family and I. I wanted to "Pay Forward" my feelings because I know so many families have gone through this same scenario time and time again! My youngest daughter Stacey, as I have mentioned before is married to a Military member. She is also the mother of 3 of my grandchildren, Lucas 5, Paige 4 and Kaleb who will turned 1 in March. WELL, they received notice this week that they are being posted. We knew that would happen, of course, but we thought Nova Scotia or Ontario. It turns out that it will be Cold Lake, Alberta. For a small town family like mine, Cold Lake seems very far away!! My oldest daughter Amy, lives in Saint John, New Brunswick with my oldest grandson Brandon who is 13. I always felt that was a bit too far away from Fredericton, lol. My family grew up in Saint John and I was the first one to leave home in 1993 to move to Fredericton, then my brother Larry also moved the same year to Miramichi. This was really hard on my parents because we had always been close to home. We had Sunday dinners together, Christmas Eve was spent at my parents home waiting for Santa to deliver 1 present to all the little people and having a pot luck with family, friends and neighbors. That all changed when we moved away of course. Taking children on a road trip to Saint John Christmas Eve just wasn't the sensible thing to do. (you will see one of my posts in regards to my youngest sister Karen sending us all ornaments to hang on the Christmas tree at 10:00 Christmas Eve so we would all be doing it together. When my parents passed away, we started a new tradition of getting together on boxing day for a Chinese Buffet prepared by my 2 sisters and myself. My sister Elaine does the honey garlic ribs, the youngest Karen is on rice (how did she get so lucky?) and I do the chicken balls from scratch - yes it takes me at least 2 days to do enough for 28 people!!!! We are the huggy, kissy type of people when we see each other. We say Luv you everytime we talk on the phone and come to the end of our conversation. So, to return to the topic at hand - Stacey and her family moving to Cold Lake will be a huge adjustment for all of us. Presently, she lives about 12 minutes away from me in Oromocto, her husband Tony has been posted at the Gagetown Base for at least the last 9 years since they have been together. He is from Woody Point, Newfoundland, obviously I don't have to tell you what a nice fellow he is. The same as all people from Newfoundland - a very nice guy and a great Dad. I couldn't talk about it for the first couple of days. Of course, I didn't cry when she first told me and she was sobbing - being the strong Mom is just one of the jobs we have to do. BUT after we talked and I called my grandson Brandon to see how he was taking the news and my oldest daughter Amy to talk about it as well, my strong resolve went to the way side. The move I know will be an emotional one when the day arrives and Stacey's family is leaving but I do plan on taking as many trips as needed to keep our family close. I have already been on line, pricing tickets, asking Re/Maxers in my referral network lots of questions, advising family members that we need to have an unscheduled family dinner. Stacey has promised to download skype for me so I will be able to see the little ones every day and keep up with all adventures in their new lives in Cold Lake. Stacey and Tony are doing all the research they need to do to be responsible parents and prepare their little family for the big move. I am lucky that being in the Real Estate professional, we do have a few periods in the year when things really slow down and I will be able to pass my phone to a coworker and hop on a flight to visit my family in Cold Lake. I am keeping my fingers crossed that sales are good this year to enable me to purchase those tickets of course!! So, to all those people that miss their families every day - I will soon be among you. Take the time to write those notes, emails, send pictures and if you have the ability to do so, skype your families often. It is our responsibility to continue to be there to support our families moving away. I know it is hard on us emotionally as well but it is these young families that are being uprooted and moved so far away. I know Stacey and Tony will make more good friends wherever they go because they are pleasant, outgoing young people. Until they do, I can assure her that she will hear my voice everyday and her children will know how much Nanny misses them and loves them. AND I hope to be the strong voice that she needs to hear on the other end of the phone. So, I want to wish my children the very best on their new adventure and I am looking forward to being able to take some adventures of my own and have the opportunity to visit with them in Cold Lake. I have never been to Western Canada but will definitely be paying a few visits over the next 4 years. Sharing this post with heart felt emotions. To those families missing people in your own lives - I hope you get to talk and visit often!