I am just learning to cope with DS, partner and 3 year old GD having moved to Canada. I know it's not that far away compared to the situation of some Gransnetters but it's really tough and I miss them dreadfully.
Motherhood, it seems to me, never ends. We give birth to these children, thirty, forty years ago: long enough, you'd think, for you to be able to stop worrying about them. But no. They still do things, completely out of the blue, to disrupt your life, to surprise you, to make you anxious.
On the other hand, my mum, forty years ago, had to cope with her son, my brother, going to live in Canada. She had to face far worse communications than we have now, we even had to book transatlantic phone calls, there was obviously no Skype and we used to send voice cassettes with family news. To exchange photos we had to take them somewhere to get them printed and then post them, no Facebook or instant emailing of pictures. If she wanted to visit - the flights were much more expensive and she seemed much more frail than grandparents are now. So I shouldn't be complaining, I should count my blessings, perhaps they will have a better life style - I just hope it works out for them