We moved abroad a couple of years ago. No choice really, it was that or redundancy and no way of paying the mortgage.
I am happy enough here, have a busy life and lots of friends.
What I don't seem to have any more is any sort of relationship with my family.
No one has ever been to visit us. We go back as often as we can, but that's not as often as we would like because we simply can't afford it. We've been back 4 times.
Initially we spoke fairly often on Skype, but now I am lucky if I speak to my parents once every 3 weeks, and my brothers every few months.
I used to speak often to my Granny, but her circumstances have changed and now I can hardly speak to her at all. I am really missing her.
It almost as though... the fine nuances of a relationship can't be maintained long distance, so everyone has stopped bothering. They don't know the small details of my life and I don't know theirs, so as long as they know we're broadly fine that's enough. It is making me feel really lonely and left out.
It's not as though I am expecting them to phone us - we always do the phoning, and even set various family menbers up with skype cameras and stuff. But I get the feeling I am pestering them with irrelevances when I phone for a chat.
My mum recently said something about not being on the phone too long as it was expensive, and I said it was fine, and she made some sharp little comment about how nice it must be to not worry about the "little expenses" of long international phone calls.
It is not that they don't love us, it is just that they have put us on hold until we get back. Then we can pick up where we left off. I feel rejected.