That's commendable that she is so accomplished at such a young age. But I don't blame you one bit for boo hooing. I can't handle it when I don't see the kids in a week.

Poor baby!

I have an aunt from S. Korea, my uncle married her when he was stationed there in the 1960's, early days of Vietnam War. I have 3 cousins from that marriage. I love all of them.

Sherry,

Congrats to you and your husband on raising such an independant and ambitious young lady. I hope she enjoys her adventures and when the time comes to return to the states and work, her experiences should send her to the top of any employer's list.
Jo
(I am sad for you to, though. My only daughter is away at boarding school on a half scholarship. Her choice--not mine).

"----She loves SK, ---- and says the culture, country and people are all wonderful. She's also lived in Ireland, which, of course, she loved and has returned to for visits, and traveled extensively in Europe and Asia. For some reason, SKorea has her heart. Nuts. "

I know this is a strange way of looking at things. I often check out how many lawyers per capita in a society to determine how nasty the people there are.

In S. Korea it is 1/15,000.
In USA it is 1/360.

dcarch

There, There....poor baby.
such a shame you don't have a daughter who will stay home with mommy and daddy....so sad to have a child that wants to venture to far shores, who proves herself capable at daunting jobs and at making her own way in a foreign country...such a burden!
Ok you get the idea...!
I had afriend who's children are my age...but their mother was more my friend than the kids.
They all chose to live abroad. The oldest stayed nearby for 10 years or so and then she and her family went to England to teach, the middle child went to Thailand and married a thai and had 2 children,and the youngest marr8ied an Irish exchange student and she and her 3 kids live in Ireland,,,,their parents spent lots of money on plane tickets!!
Now the children of the man who married and divorced the Thai woman, married another woman and had 2 more children. All 4 of those kids live in Thailand/ Cambodia/ Great Britain....and the Irish kids live in Britain Ireland and sometimes in the US.
You may be raising just such an international family....
I know you miss her....but you must be sooooo proud!
Linda C

Sherry, I'm sorry you're sad. You did raise an independent and ambitious and intelligent daughter, although it's little consolation. Good for her!

Thanks, dcarch, I (and a couple of other members of the forum) work in law offices. My degree is in criminal law and I've been running the prosecutor's office here for 31 years.

Maybe the number of lawyers has something to do with the litigious society we have, where no one ever wants to take responsibility for their own (sometimes) stupid actions, but must always blame someone else?

Nah, you're right, it's the lawyers. Evil, all of 'em. Ask any of the domestic violence victims we've helped, or the abused children.

Annie

Thanks for helping...I do feel a bit better. And, yes, I am proud of her. Like I said (I think), I'm just a big baby.
Thanks.

Sherry

My baby chooses to live on the other side of the country, and I miss her a lot, so I know how you feel!
Oh well, a good excuse to travel- have you visited your DD in SKorea?

Sherry, thats what happens when you raise them right. Strong, confident, independant, what a bratty thing to do and leave like that!

So now you get even. Scrimp, save, beg, borrow or steal a ticket to SK and go visit her. She can show you around, cook, do laundry, etc. Role reversal at its finest.

And for now, a big hug to you and DH.

Oh..I feel your pain! That is a long way away, but you do have solace in knowing you done good!

I will never complain again about my daughter moving to Chicago! LOL

Linda

Sad, I know - but also so exciting! I'd be proud too. I can only hope my kids will be as independent and successful as your daughter. But I understand how hard it must be to have her so far away. Luckilly now with technology you can see her face every day and talk to her in real time on the computer.

DH travels internationally much of the time, and we often talk via skype so he can check in with the kids and see them. It really helps.

Annie, your post made me smile - one of my closest friends is in law school after going through a messy divorce. She gets annoyed with anti-lawyer comments, particularly since she's planning on going into environmental law and will be doing much of her work pro bono since she's lucky enough to be in a fine state financially.

AM

One of our sons visited her in SK last spring. He said he understands why she likes it so much there, would rather like to do it himself! Fortunately for us, he's married with children, so he'll stay put only 5 hours away from us.

Yes, we Skyped with her a lot. It was fun, putting the laptop on the table in her spot when the family got together. Awkward, but lots of laughs. She offered a very moving toast at Thanksgiving dinner a year ago, and has "participated" in all the birthdays, etc. Still, I'm selfish.....and proud, too.

It's good to be writing about it here. The other kids think she is the luckiest person on earth to be doing this. Since we certainly did raise them to be independent, it serves us right!

Thanks again to all of you.

Sherry

Sherry, you definitely have a daughter to be proud of. I would like to give you a big pat on the back for your job in bringing her up. That said, you have my sympathy completely, because I know if my DD moved away from me, I literally think I would die. I have a very old fashioned view about that. I think families should stay close to each other in order to help each other when needed.

Beverly

Beverly, I have exactly the same opinion! When I recall how helpful it was to me to have my parents five minutes away while raising six kids, I am sad for my kids, doing it alone. Three of the kids have kids, the closest family being an hour away, then two hours, then five hours away. My retired dad would pop in during the day and I could shower or run to the grocery, or they'd pick up the kids for a couple hours, making it much easier on hub and me.

So far, the three kids who are parents have been able to stay home with their kids, and I am extremely grateful for that. Still, they often seem overwhelmed with parenting. If I had my way, we'd at least live in the same town! My kids have wonderful memories of being with grandma and grandpa, often on the spur of the moment, which is something my gkids will never have. I think it's a big loss for all of us.

Sherry

It's always sad to see them go so far, I know what you mean !!

My son did the english teaching in SK for almost 2 years and loved the life style; he was in a band with other teachers who were expats also, My grandson was conceived there. DS and ex DIL came to Montreal to give birth though.

I never visited SK although I had intended to eventually.

Good luck in dealing with your broken heart.

Aw Sherry...... it's hard huh?

My grown daughters live an hour from me and that's hard for me. I can't even imagine them living in another country!

Im sorry for your pain but I'm so proud of YOU! You did a great job raising her to be such a capable and independent woman.

Sherry I feel your pain and your pride. My DD has been in Australia for a year now and she loves it. She is leaving Australia in February and traveling to Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and South Korea...who knows where else.

She returns in May to attend grad school here in Canada. I hope she settles here but I know in my heart that Meredith has wings and I'm getting my head around it...sorta.

No matter what she chooses, I am blessed, as are you, to have such an independent, strong young woman for a daughter..... I just wish she would be strong and independent within an hours drive! LOL

Chase, Meredith and Margaret may meet each other in their travels some day. Those are the countries Margaret intends to visit while she is in SK. She gets 10 weeks paid vacation! She's going to Australia in mid-Feb for two weeks before she goes to SK.

I'll be darned if I can remember the name of the city she's going to in SK, Mitch - or where in Australia, either!

Sherry

Sherry, you are right about so much being lost today when the family doesn't live near each other. I have no good memories of life with my parents, however I always had my grandmother to turn to and I wouldn't take anything for the fact she lived only about three miles away. Also aunts, uncles and cousins lived nearly that close and we spent a lot of time together and those are great memories too. Kids these days really want to stretch their wings and fly and it's good that they can be independant and see the world. It's just sad that they don't know what they are missing.