Too Far Away

Submitted by ub on

LiV lives far away from me physically but never spiritually and is always in my heart. Just like all my family members, who I miss dearly.

I have felt the geographic distance caused as a result of my career between me and my family to live thousands of miles from my grandkids. I feel sad to live across the country from the grandkids and, therefore, see them less frequently.

As COVID has rapidly escalated, that distance between my grandkids and me might as well be another continent. For all practical purposes, I have become a long-distance grandparent.

I hate to admit it, even to myself, but I am in the high-risk category because of my age. In the span of a week, I went from building media startups and turning others around to being classified as part of the older demographic who is most vulnerable to the Coronavirus.

Although my self-esteem is suffering from severe whiplash, all indications are that many Boomers are also having a hard time accepting the fact we are in the “older vulnerable” category and need to self-quarantine.

In addition, my kids have no choice; they work at jobs with a high level of people contact, so I too worry about the possibility of them becoming sick.

Therefore, I Call my grandkids to chat. Kids are out of school and restricted to the home, so even older kids have time to talk to the grandparents. Older grandkids probably prefer a text.

Facetime is great because I get to talk to the grandkids with the bonus of seeing their faces. For younger kids, Facetime is especially good because they understand who they are talking to.

The fact is, I really miss being with Olivia, Parker, and all of them during the holidays but thank God I feel young and healthy.