A post from the Lady’s Mom about distance

* The following is a post written by my very own Mom, who was kind enough to share some words while I’m away. Below she offers a different viewpoint on my adventure Out West, in which she gives the side of the loving Mother, who has had to learn to deal with the distance away from her one-and-only daughter. 

Hello blog readers,

I am enormously excited to have been asked by Ashley to be a “guest blogger” while she vacates in Cabo. The first thing that happened when she asked me to do this was of course a few small tears. Because that is so sweet, and I am very flattered. The second was of course an enormous amount of anxiety to even begin to do justice to this wonderful online journal that she has created.

As you can imagine, as much as I love the Lady, it hasn’t been easy to have her live across the country from me. (She couldn’t have chosen a location much further from our home in Southwest Florida.)

More than a year-and-a-half-ago, not long after the Lady decided to head out West, I was fooling around and actually wrote the following blog-like entry about my impending airplane trip to go see her in her new home in California. Although I lived allover when I was younger, I had not stepped foot on an airplane in more than 30 years, and I was terrified. I am glad I kept what I wrote, because it seems perfectly appropriate to share today.

 Not Your Daughter’s Blog
Ramblings of a sixty-something, on the topic of transportation

I was talking to my daughter yesterday and she mentioned she was taking a bus home from a San Francisco destination. Turns out this was not just a bus, it sounds like a cross between a subway and a cable car. She mentioned that this contraption goes both on the street and into tunnels, delivering a closely packed crowd of strangers. None of whom, I’m sure, would be even remotely interested nor sympathetic to the anxieties and motion-induced maladies of this sixty-something passenger. Not that I will ever find out. I mentioned to her during the telling that she had found yet another form of public transportation that I could not handle (BART, the subway in San Francisco, having been immediately dismissed by me.) 

And I got to thinking that just about everything that will happen from here on out is going to be like that. In fact, I will be challenged by the ultimate public transportation, which is taking a plane trip out to California and then actually returning on it! It’s going to happen, it has to. Everyone says it will be fine and I will never know what I was so worried about. I kind of have a different feeling. Like I may not fly out there again, but I will at least have given it this chance. On that I hope I am wrong! But I do know this much, I am happy that we will be using our trusty feet to get everywhere we want to go while I am visiting. Walking never sounded so good given the alternatives! 

 She is there and I am here, that is challenge enough …

As I prefaced, I wrote this right after she moved. And I did fly out to San Francisco shortly after writing this and have done so several more times. It hasn’t really gotten any easier, but I would do anything for this Lady.

Meanwhile, I am dreaming of the day when we live a few time zones closer. Until then, I will keep dreading the flights, but rejoicing in the days we spend together.

Mom and Ashley

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
The Lady’s Mom

Questions of the day

Do you wish you lived closer to some of your loved ones?

Have you called your Mother today?

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14 Comments

  1. What a sweet post! I lived in a different state from my mama for several years, so I can absolutely relate to being away and both my mom and me having a difficult time with it. My mom and I are pretty close, so it was a challenge at first, but in the long run I think it was best for both of us. It allowed us both to develop our own sense of independence without one another. I just recently moved back to my home state of Arizona with my husband and son, and we live within about 45 minutes from my mom. We are both thrilled that we’re much closer to one another now. Hopefully you ladies will be closer someday soon too!

  2. My family live in England, I live in Florida so I totally understand struggling with the distant relationship. They are also 5 hrs ahead so I have to think before I call! My family supported my move but love it when we get a chance to visit and ‘FaceTime’ is great and free for when we want to catch up! Now this has prompted me to make that call…

    1. Hi Natasha,

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing. Yes, you are VERY far from your family, but I’m sure it makes you appreciate your love and relationship with them even more, because not every one has that. My Mom and I also do FaceTime every once in a while too. It can be quite funny actually. Hope you have a trip planned to England in the near future. 🙂

  3. Such a cute post! I do wish I lived closer to a lot of people I loved, though most of them are in California with me. My mom is about 4 hours driving distance away and we don’t even like that!

    1. Hi Nicole,

      Thanks for stopping by the blog and sharing. Four hours isn’t terrible, but it’s still a long drive, so I totally get it. Moms and daughters sure do have a special bond. 🙂

  4. Mrs. P,

    What a sweet post to leave on here while the Lady is away! 🙂

    Love and miss you both!!!

    XoXo,
    Sandra “D”

  5. I’m living in Queensland, Australia. My folks are living in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I miss them dearly. Skyping is just not quite the same, but this is where I need to be career wise. Thankfully I will be seeing them in just one month!

  6. This is so sweet, and completely resinates with me as I’m about the same distance from my parents (east coast of Canada). 🙁 Can’t wait to see my Momma & Daddio.

    1. I know, I know! But we’ve still got to live our lives and have some Bay Area adventures. 🙂 Hope you have a family visit planned soon.

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