On Living Near Family

In the past month, two of my good friends have recently moved "home" to live near their families--and in both cases, these moves took place after years of living a long plane flight away.

As I've watched these friends jump right back into the folds of family life, I've been thinking a lot about our move to Cape Cod, which at the time, wasn't based on being close to family (although that was definitely a bonus when we made the decision), but has been a really wonderful part of our living here. 

Of course, I've also been thinking about living close to family because of my dad's visit last week. It was *SO* wonderful to have him here, for him to be a part of our daily lives and our impending life change, but it also made me sad that we can't live in a place where we're close to both of our families, that people don't still live in villages where generations of the same family all live next door to one another and help raise each other's children.

However, I know that we're lucky to be able to live close to at least one side of the family; we're lucky that we have jobs that allowed us to move and don't require us to be in one particular city or location, and that we had the means and life circumstances that allowed us to make our move almost 3 years ago.

Since moving, I've been surprised at how great it really is to be close to family. I knew it would be nice to have family nearby for the holidays, birthdays, and bigger events, but what I didn't think about was how nice it would be for Ben's Grandfather to be able to come to all of his basketball games (the ones he coaches), for Ben's mom to be able to stop by on a Saturday afternoon just to say 'hi' and catch up, for impromptu family BBQs on the weekend, for the connections that are formed by living in the same place and therefore being affected by the same local news, weather, and events. There's something really lovely about that. 

And of course, there's the super helpful part of living near family, which I know will only increase exponentially once we have a baby: the family members who are able to come stay with Sayde when we go out of town, who can come let her out in the middle of the day if I'm unavailable, who we can borrow equipment or supplies from when doing work on the house--the people you know you can count on if you lock yourself out of the car, need help moving, or have an emergency. It's great to feel that kind of support, too. 

So, I guess what I'm saying is that there's something really wonderful about living near family, and also, as we get ready to grow our own little family, I'm having a lot of sadness about not living by my side of the family, too--about not having my parents, grandparents, brothers, aunts + uncles close by.

​I feel so grateful that my in-laws are here, and that we have a support system now that we didn't even realize was possible just a few years ago, and at the same time, I can't bear the thought that my parents won't be able to be a part of our daughter's daily + weekly life in the same way that Ben's family will be. It's such a mix of emotions all rolled up into one...but I guess that kind of describes life, doesn't it? 

{Oh, and I should note that I know that living near family can be hard, too, depending on family dynamics, but I think that in many cases, the good outweighs the more challenging aspects of having family nearby. Obviously this is case-by-case and only you can know what's best for you...}

Want to hear more about our move to Cape Cod and deciding to make a big move to be close to family? Check out ​Starr Struck Radio, Episode 36: Making a Big Move + Making Friends as an Adult.