Firstly I am glad I found this forum offering the chance to get a balanced perspective from people our own age. Secondly I am new to the forum so hope I have posted in the right place, so please be kind!
We are from the UK - our daughter and family are in Australia. We had a grand plan 10 years ago for us all to move to Oz, including my son to be near my brother and his family in Queensland who emigrated years ago. The process of getting visas etc takes a long time and to cut a long story short, my daughter and her husband (main breadwinner) emigrated 7 years ago and ended up in Western Australia 'for a couple of years'. We came over to join them 3 years ago at great expense to ourselves when our first grandchild was born and we now have a second.
However, it seems as though they will now not leave this area due to s-I-l's work, although they may move around the state but haven't ruled out moving to another state in the future. In addition, our son has not made the move and is now living in Amsterdam and we really miss him.
We find we are missing the UK, we used to do a lot of walking in Derbyshire and Yorkshire Dales. You can't really walk in the bush here. We miss the villages - non-existent here and the culture, country houses etc.. We still don't have a house here as the exchange rate plummeted after we moved although it is improving and hubby is saying we must make a decision when the exchange rate is favourable as the lease on our rental is up in July. We don't particularly like Australian houses and find them characterless. I watch Escape to the Country with great longing. We provide a lot of support to our daughter as s-I-l works away most of the week and I do realise how lucky we are to be able to spend time with our grandchildren.
Neither do we really like WA. We do however, quite like Queensland which is more lush and green and have found one place with a village community feel with lots going on for older people about an hour and a half from my brother and his family. Due to the vastness of Australia it is a 5 hour flight from WA.
Our dilemma is whether we should stay in WA just to be near our family or return to the UK where we have no family. I am not sure that Australia will ever be home but I don't regret coming and being able to see our beautiful grandchildren all the time. Or should we try and make a life for ourselves in Queensland, although we won't be able to see the family as often as internal flights are quite expensive and of course it's not the same as being part of their daily lives. We also feel that we would be letting our daughter down if we left WA, Apart from the practical support she has said she really wants us to be part of our grandchildren's lives. We have decided to go the UK for a 2 month holiday next summer to see how we get on.
I know if I leave the family I will miss them terribly but neither am I really happy here in WA. We feel like we are living their lives and not our own and living in a state of limbo with no proper home or lives. I am finding it all quite stressful and it's the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. Hubby says he would be happy with whatever decision I make which puts the onus on me really!
Sorry if I have gone on a bit, but would be interested to hear views of other grandparents.
How do you acknowledge Easter.