Hi Lavendyr,

I'm not in a long distance marriage.

I have ministered to many folks during my seven years in Newfoundland and Labrador who had long distance marriages.  Most of the husbands were working  around Fort McMurray.

Six weeks away and two at home was the standard.  Some stayed in the Fort longer just to make more money so they could come home for good sooner.

Grace and peace to you.

John

My wife and ilive together in Toronto, but my brother lives in Regina and his wife lives in Ottawa. It seems to work for them. They visit each other as often as they can and do alot of online chatting and skyping (skypeing?).

Nothing to that extent, but Chemguy was living in a town about 2 hours away M-F.  It was a requirement that he had a place there or another town further away.  Now we're back to just one place between the two of us, but there are frequent 1-2 nights when he's gone.  We were more permanantly long distance at various points while dating/engaged.

It seems to run in the family.  I remember when I was little my Dad would be away for long stretches.  My sister and her husband worked in different cities for a while, plus he used to be in the military so was in various places in Canada for long stretches.

It's working in Alberta.  I had a friend (female) who had the 6 weeks up north, 2 weeks south (from me) for a while too.

Lavendyr, have you ever had the oppurtunity to go and visit him?  I realize that work camps aren't the ideal place for that, but just curious if you managed to come to Alberta when he had a few days off.

Thanks for sharing everyone! As for visiting, no have not got to visit yet. He lives in camp late fall/winter months..but actually in the summer months he is just in a motel right in grande prairie. Which has me considering moving out there too..seeing as how he would be home every night then. The hard part would be winters when he would still be up at camp (North of Fort Mac) and we would be alone in a strange place w/ no support system so we shall see. It's really hard being apart and I worry much more about my children than my own self. My husband and I are both scared that it will be hard on them as they get older :( but I know we are fortunate he has such a good job and nothing can ever be perfect! Helps to hear from others who have been in similar situations though. 

And yes Dcn Jae..skype/facetime are life savers! Not sure how people survived it before this technology!

Lavendyr, if you ever do decide to move you would quickly create a support system.  My parents have lifelong friends (they were at my wedding) from the first few places they lived when they moved to Alberta.  The oil towns aren't where many people grew up so neighbours become family.

Most of the people I know eventually moved out of field work and into office work, so they do see their kids more often once they are school aged.  That's all for people with degrees related to the industry though.

The united church minister from Gande Prairie is a regular on wondercafe. It wasn't too long ago that he moved there with his wife and daughters.

Jae, maybe we are related. My daughter and her family have your last name. Could it be your brother? lol

Chemgal, that is a good point..thank you! And Tabitha, that is interesting to know should we move out there. My oldest daughter is 3 and wil start school Sept 2015 so I wold like to move before then if we decide to. Once she starts school I'd rather not move. I moved several times in school and even in grade primary (kindergarten) I found it very traumatizing!

My cousin and her husband have a long distance marriage like that.  He's in Alberta working as well, and she's in Orillia, Ontario.  I'm not sure how many years they've been living like this and I can't imagine how difficult it must be for them.  

Living in the GTA, I've also known a number of families with long distance marriages due to immigration related issues.  One woman I worked with was raising 2 kids on her own and her husband had never seen the youngest.  He is living somewhere in Africa and they met there, but for some reason her visa was approved and his was not.  She's been living in Canada for about 8 years and in that time she's only seen him twice, I believe...once to get married and pregnant with #1 and the second time to get pregnant with #2.

If he is in a motel during the summer, perhaps he could try and rent a small house/apartment and you could go out and try it for the summer. Nice for the kids

Even in the winter you would still see him those two weeks at a time, and easier on him than flying back and forth.

I found once my kids started school you immediately have a new circle of friends. The parents of the school friends. My best friends now are from that group of school moms

Northwind has rented a small mobile home for her work in Grande Prairie. Sometimthing like that might work for you.

I hadn't thought of renting something..his company just puts him up in hotel so not sure if they would be up for that. It would give us a chance to see what it's like out there though. I go back to work in November :( Maternity leave will be up!

Sounds like a visit over the summer is in order!

Call him today and start the process. What a great way to spend the summer and for him to be with the kids daily