Only son and only grand daughter going to live in America

I am so overwhelmed by the kindness and thought that has gone into your responses. i never dreamed I would use this kind of 'social network'- but knowing there are people out there who have given thought to my predicament gives me a warm feeling. I am surprised too,-its made me feel less alone.

my grand daughter is 4 in June, and no my DiL is English, but she has family in LA. Nothing lasts forever i know. I suspect my brain injury makes me more conscious of passing time. The 2 book reading on Skype is a lovely idea. Thank you thank you.

Lovely ideas there Joan . My great grandparents decided to emigrate from Scotland and I have a photo of them all in their Sunday best with his mother in black.the sorrow radiates through over the centuries. Wecannot hold our children back but I feel for you. You don't say how old your DGC is but they are all very techno savvy these days . We are now going to a lot of trouble reversing the process by getting the little ones to write letters! We leave address stickers,and stamps and when a letter arrives they get one back straight away. They are such a novelty that they are taken in to school for show and tell!

So sad for you, and guilty, as we emigrated to Australia when my firstborn was just a little baby. Mum and Dad had other grandchildren though. Mum visited twice, and we wrote all the time, and phoned too. It was 1979 - pre-internet and skype, alas.

The thing is, they might not stay there - America is not an easy country to live in. Is your DiL American?

I think you should tell them that you understand they want the best future they can have, but naturally you will miss them all, so could they arrange to skype you regularly. I know someone who reads bed time stories to his grandchild on skype: he buys two copies of each story book, one for the child and one for him: they open their books together and he reads to the child.

I do wish the best for you, and life tells us all that no situation lasts for ever. I do hope things work out better than they seem right now.

Hi ganmaj and welcome. Do they intend to come back and visit? How old is your grandaughter? Things can change, such as your grandughter learning how to Skype so she's not relying on her parents to help her. Are you on Facebook? My daughter often does little videos on her iPhone and posts them, so I can see what the children are up to. Perhaps you could spend some time preparing how communication could be improved before they leave, and maybe telling them how you feel will get a favourable response, at least from your son? He needs to know that you're feeling down and crying a lot.

I do hope things improve for you. [flower]

Welcome ganmaj - it is good to hear from you, but sad that things are not good at the moment. I can understand how you must feel about this situation - I suspect there are other grans on here facing similar problems and I hope very much that you will gain support from them.

There's a lot of fun and happiness on here ganmaj, but equally there are a lot of sad stories and many people will understand how you feel. It won't stop it hurting but you won't feel so alone.

Ganmaj You are welcome. That's the joy of GN. You can usually find someone out there for a virtual hug when you need it, as I do from time to time. The no access to grandchildren is the nightmare of most of us either as a sad reality or just a fear.
Take care.
GN does keep one up at night though. night night!

Dear nelliemoser, that was quick! i was just abou to give in for the day and go sleep but your hugs gave me quite a boost even though i don't know you. thank you ganmaj

Ganmaj (((hugs))) No real suggestions though but I can understand how upset you feel. There are a lot of other GNrs who might be able to suggest something.
I should feel lucky that my DD and DGS are only 50 miles (but a two hour drive) away.