So, I have two kids of my own, daughter age 26 and son age 23, plus grandon age 4 by daughter, plus two step-sons, both in early 30s. Most people's kids, I think, grow up and move away, to another city, or maybe even another state, or in some cases even to a different time zone. MY kids, though, have to live at distances that are measured by oceans, continents, and hemispheres. My daughter and grandson have been living in Israel for about a year now, and my son has recently gone back to France after a few weeks visit home. Then last week my husband and I found out that his younger son has joined the Peace Corps and is now in Mauritania (northwest Africa, south of Morocco), in a place with no phones and no electricity, no way for us to reach him that we know of. (The other stepson lives in LA and calls pretty regularly.)

These kids are all great people. I just wish that they didn't have to be so damn far away. They're absorbed in their own lives, which is just as it should be, and I work on keeping focused on my own life -- but I'd really like to hear from them. My siblings and I did the same thing to my parents, and I'm sorry now that I was so completely oblivious then about how much it means to a parent just to have their kids within easy touch.

Any similar stories?