I still remember the excitement that surged through my body in the moments just after I got the call.

“He’s coming!” my mother said on the phone. I hung up the phone and raced out of my Capitol District office calling over my shoulder that I was gone for the rest of the day. Racing to my car I called my husband and told him I’d be around to get him in ten minutes. Go bag in the backseat, we raced up the hill the 189 miles from Little Rock to Fayetteville at lightening speed on that special day, the day that I would meet my nephew for the first time just in time for Thanksgiving.

Back then, 189 miles was all that separated me from my parents and my brother. Somehow I knew that we needed to cherish those days because there would come a time when it would be harder for us to see one another.

Six years later we are literally thousands of miles away. The longing to be with my loved ones can at times be excruciating. It’s worse when I hear and see people complaining about there family being around too much. They’ve never been on the other end of a FaceTime with their adorable nephew and heard him say he can’t remember the last time he saw me for real. If I had my way (and a lot more money) we would all meet up at least once per month and enjoy making as many memories as possible.

Why not move to the same city you might ask? Well, life does not always afford that option as much as we may wish for it to be so. Careers, other commitments require that we live in our current stations.

Living a bi-costal family life sounds much sexier on tv than it is in real life. So, on those very rare occasions when we can be together, we do our best to make the most of the time allotted.

Marta C. Youngblood is a writer, education and social entrepreneur based in Lubbock, Texas. For more information on her current projects visit https://about.me/MCyoungblood.