Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - Separation Anxiety

It's official. My parents are going to be leaving the area. My mother just lost her job and my father's factory is closing. My father was offered a position in South Carolina, and with the job prospects being in such a sad state here, it's a pretty obvious choice.

Please allow me this juvenile moment:

"Wah! My mommy and daddy are leaving me!!!"

Thank you.

Pretty much my whole family is still here (except for the Alaska branch of my mom's family), so this is a big deal. I know that my folks have to do what's best for them - I've told them as much. One of my sisters intends to move her family down there with them. I'm pretty well tied to my current location by my husband's family at the very least, and my other two sibs are pretty much in the same boat.

I'm excited for my parents, I really am. But I know that they don't want to go, especially they don't want to leave the grandkids. If one of us kids put up any fuss, my folks would stay. We don't want to do that to them.

There's some other unfortunate issues that come up because of this move: my father's parents are still alive, but not in good health, and they need a lot of care. This will pretty much put the burden on my aunt and uncle, and they aren't terribly happy about it. But they understand. Then there's another aunt, my mother's sister, who is disabled and in a group home where she receives very good care. That aunt will NOT understand. She doesn't know yet. There's going to be major fireworks when my folks tell her about the move. She won't have any family left here except, yup, her nieces and nephew. Which then puts responsibilty for her square on my back. I love my aunt, but the prospect of having to deal with her for many, many years is frightening me.

Dear readers, you've just seen the selfish side of me here. But I really needed to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening.