We just returned from a whirlwind visit to Connecticut, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Two weeks. Seven airports. Five beds. Not ideal, but it was worth it to squeeze in time with as many friends and family as possible.
My husband has flown back to the U.S. a few times for work, but it was the first time my 5-year-old and I have been back since moving to Japan in July 2014. We were all eager to return. We haven’t yet hosted visitors from home, so this was our first chance to see everyone again.
Moving abroad comes with a long list of challenges, but I think the hardest one is the distance geography places between you and your loved ones. Email, Facebook, blogs, phone calls, snail mail and Skype help to keep us connected but there is still no substitute for the closeness of a face-to-face meeting.
For Liam, that meant a lot of actual closeness. He jumped in bouncy castles with his cousins, so close in fact that he got bruised in the process. He slid down slides beside old friends. He cuddled with Grandpa. Begged snacks off of his aunts. Watched football with his uncles. Cooed at his newest baby cousin.
For us grown-ups, it meant drinking a lot of wine, beer and coffee, conversing plenty, giving and receiving many hugs and making numerous promises to keep in better touch.
It wasn’t nearly enough time. But we knew that long before we boarded our plane at Narita. Even though our time was short, it was good to be reminded, tangibly, of the many friends and family who help make this nomadic life of ours possible. We may live thousands of miles apart but the love we carry with us is never truly far away.