I am feeling a little bit down because my son and daughter-in-law now live 13 hrs away and he is having his first child in 12 weeks. I have 2 other grandkids from my daughter who I love dearly and have a very close relationship. They come and spend lots of time with us and we are very close with them. I would like to hear from some grandparents that have long distance relationships with their grandkids and how to deal with the feeling of not seeing them very much. He had to move because of his job but it still makes me sad.

You do whatever you have to do to be involved. My grandparents lived in Michigan when I was a child and I lived in California, but back in those days we were letter writers. I still have all the letters my grandparents sent me. When I read them, I hear my their voices and remember their beautiful faces. Do whatever you must to stay involved. You are one of your grandchildren's most important resources.

I guess I have it easy. Only one of my sons has children. The other and his wife have decided against having kids. My husband and I see our grandchildren at least once a week. Being with them is pure joy. My husband and I left our home, friends and good jobs in Alaska to move to Washington State to be near the grandchildren. It was certainly a sacrifice but we know we have a positive influence in our grandkids' lives and it is worth the cost we paid to make that happen. Do whatever you must to make the contact happen. It will be worth whatever the cost.

Here are mine:
-purchase a webcam for each of your computers. They cost about $30 at Walmart Then you can talk to your granchildren and actually look at them
-Send them letters and packages
-I purchased a blank book. It was a fully bound book with blank pages, no writing, no pictures. I wrote a a story called,
"Sariah's faraway Gramma" it is in poem form and tells about things that Gramma and Grampa do that a young child might find intereting. I wrote that for her on her first birthday. Her mother told me that has become her favorite book and even said to her mother. This is my favorite book. That made me feel so good.

My son and I both have webcams. I haven't mastered it yet. Still working on it. But an alternative is to go to photobucket.com. My granddaughter (15 year old) set up and account. They add pictures all the time of all of them so I can see them and you can also add videos too. I also call them a couple of times a week and they call me too. Just to say hi and I love you. They call me with news of daily happenings with school. I also fly to see them at least twice a year and stay for a week each time. When I am there I devote my time to having fun with them, sleeping with them and of course shopping with them to get them something special. I also send cards for birthdays and presents.

At this point I do neither because I have been rejected for 7 years. I only participate on "special occasions". Sad but necessary to avoid the hurt.