Feeling Homesick

Craig's niece Jenna had a baby this morning. A little boy called Samuel. I couldn't wait to get home tonight so I could go out and buy him something and get it posted tomorrow. Good grief I'm homesick. I've been thinking about home a lot lately and what it means to miss it, especially since I haven't been to England since September 2008.

Do I miss England the country. The green and pleasant land? Or do I miss the people, my family & friends in particular? A bit of both I think but definitely family more. My mum has been to Portsmouth this past week which has been on my wish-list for a few years. I want to see HMS Victory and The Mary Rose and Charles Dickens's house. Last month she went to Whitby - a quaint fishing village and home of Bram Stoker. And she's been to Warwick Castle and Ironbridge and Howarth this year. All places I either want to see or that I love to visit. So I do miss England as a country and especially during those patriotic times like the royal wedding or a big national sporting event. In 2012 it's the Queen's 50th anniversary of being on the throne and also the London Olympics, so that will be a poignant time for me.

More than anything in the world though I miss my family. My niece Gemma is expecting her second child, a daughter, next February so there will be at least 6 great nieces & nephews new to mine & Craig's family in the last few years. I have aunties and uncles that I haven't seen for ages and of course we miss our parents and siblings badly. My mum & sister haven't even met Daniel yet! I think that's what bothers me the most - that Jack and Danny don't get to spend time with their grandparents and aunties, uncles, cousins and extended family. Between me and Craig we've got a large and close-knit family, so it's hard not to be a daily part of it.

Each day recently I've wished that our family could see Jack & Danny, just as they are right now. They are so gorgeous and funny and sweet that they need to be seen. And they need their family. Our Jack is sch a social little boy and he would be over the moon to have all those people as relatives! I can just imagine him planning his sleep-overs at his auntie or nan's house.

We do our best to Skype, write and phone but it's not the same.We spend half of the time on Skype shouting "can you hear me? Oh! I've lost you. Can you see me?" And the phone is impossible when I have Jack and Danny in the room because they will do anything to get me off the phone, including playing jump rope with the cord (I have a lovely old wall telephone with big long curly cord) and launching themselves off the furniture.

So anyway, I'm just homesick and I'm determined to go back to England Christmas 2012. Not that I don't love living in America because I do. And I'm very grateful for the life we have here and for our friends. But I just need to see my family. I am loooong overdue!