Being a Long Distance Parent

I have been thinking about my children a lot this week as I get ready for our Passover seder. I so wanted them to be able to come home – to join us for this yearly journey of the Jews out of slavery on their way to the promised land. But neither Daniel or Rachel is able to come home.

Usually when Daniel calls us there is a problem. He has lost something, his OCD is going crazy, the car is acting up, or he needs financial help or advice. But this week when he called, it was to give us some good news. Daniel was invited to join the Law Review at the University of Arizona based on his first year grades. Last fall he thought long and hard about a topic for his paper and finally decided to write on The Alien Torte Statute. In early April he submitted his 60+ page paper for consideration. This week he found out that his paper is going to be published. Only about 1 in 4 papers is published, so this is a real honor. This has got to be good for his ego!

Rachel, who is usually on top of the world, called today in tears. She has been trying for months to arrange an internship in psychology for the summer. All of her friends seem to have finalized their plans and none of hers have worked out. So she is in a panic. Nothing I said could make her feel better. After I hung up, I e-mailed my friend Guerry in San Diego. She has a PhD in clinical psychology and does research at the University of San Diego. Guerry has lots of connections in Boston, as well, because she started out there. I later heard from her, saying that she had at least one lead in Boston and also was inviting Rachel to come to San Diego for a couple of months to work with her – a very generous offer! So hopefully something will work out.

In both cases – good and bad news – I really wished there weren’t so many miles between us. These are times when a parent would like to be able to see the child’s face and give a big hug. I miss them, especially when they need me!