I was that child who went abroad with my young family many years ago.
I know what a great thing it is to do,
but I am an only child so I can't begin to imagine what that was like for my parents.
If only we had been braver, maybe we wouldn't have come home.
Like evianers it was letters then. We didn't even have a camera.
I drew our sitting room, a plan of our home, sent a little map of our town with the playground and library etc circled - places we'd been. I sent tiny swatches of the fabrics I'd bought to make clothes for our 3 year old and drew the nightie and dresses. It seems like a different age.
About once a month we had a phone call from my parents. Once a month we called them. It was too expensive to do more. When we had a new baby we did buy a camera. The photos were always greeted with delight. I have some of these now and look at them with amazement as there were actually so very few of them.
My daughter loved the little treats my mother sent. A sheet of stickers, a drawing of Grandpa, a story about a little girl a long, long way away.
They were great parents and great grandparents... Annoying and frustrating but, oh how they loved.
We can all love from a distance. The children do know.
We are lucky now with technology.
Embrace what we do have. Weep to yourself if you must, but never make them feel guilty or sad. That's what I try to do.