[Onica]

Honestly, what you make in more money will be eaten up in the increased cost of living. At least for a few more years. It sounds like you are ok with where you are at. Especially for your kiddo and the opportunities there in the area.

[Kisha]

Stay where you are go for the weekend 1-2 times a month.

[Colleen]

Based on your descriptions, it sounds like the only drawbacks of staying in NC are reduced salary and lack of proximity to family, but you can get to family quickly with your plane. (And the increased salary in KY would be eaten away by higher cost of living.) I’d stay put and, if income is an issue, look for a remote job or other opportunities that pay more.

It also sounds like your current area has more opportunities for your child to flourish.

[John]

5 hr drive, or 90-min flight. Plan on it monthly or major holidays, but otherwise stay where you are.

[Connie]

Option B. I always loved growing up around family. There are things money can’t buy, such as being there in person to visit with your older family members and help if they need it. Sunday dinners will always be remembered by your daughter and give her the value of family.

You can always move again if you change your mind after your grandparents are gone, but you can never get them back. Take it from experience.

I never regretted moving back to spend the last years with my grandparents.

[Kirsten]

Women’s health care is slightly easier to obtain in NC. This would be a consideration if I had a daughter.

[Stacey]

Stay.

You can be there quickly in an emergency. The extra salary is eaten up by less of a home.

And although being near family can be great – it can also be not so great. You are probably looking at it as an idealized view of Sunday dinners and holidays.

[Allison]

As someone whose family left East Ky decades ago due to economics, Id stay where you’re at. Could you get a vacation cabin or trailer in EKY and visit frequently?

[Jenny]

Option A Stay where there is more opportunities for your child. Your increased income won’t make up for the thriving environment of major universities and progressive institutions in the NC triad. Visit family often don’t move there.

[Rick]

I think if you asked your grandparents generation if you should move to benefit them/you or stay to benefit your daughter, they will overwhelmingly say stay.

[Judith]

I think you should stay. Your grandparents will not live forever. It’s sad that you aren’t closer, but you can make more effort to visit more if needed (every 3 months even!) and spoil your child rotten when you visit there so the child will cherish those memories seeing family.

Will you still want to be in Kentucky when they are gone? I would think of your child as a young adult.

Where would they do best? It sounds like NC would be better and going up in that area will confer connections etc.

[Golden]

Stay put! You don’t need family nearby. Just go visit everyone once in awhile. Sounds like life is better if you stay put.

We moved 3 hours from family 20 years ago. Life has been good….more opportunities and lower cost of living. We visit family every once in a while.

[Marcia]

I would say to consider what you want your life to look like day in and day out. Not just holidays or sundays- you can easily be with family for a lot of those- but where you’d want to have kid activities, date nights, etc. My husband actually really wants to move full time to coastal NC where we have a place but for my kids I would not consider that until they are grown because there are so few opportunities there compared to our current state of CO.

I hear how tough the decision is for you and I’d also just say that you can also choose not to decide right now.

The answer will become clear at some point… sometimes you just have to wait for it.

[Francine]

Keep in mind that your child will want/need friends who are not family. The friends she will find where you are now will have families likely to be more compatible with your values and goals than those in KY. If there were a lot of relatives near her age in the KY town, it might be different, but it doesn’t sound like there are.

[Ragini]

NC all the way!!! You seem happy here and you landed in a nice community. Also NC has excellent in state colleges for your daughter if she chooses to go. You have that plane so you have plenty of opportunities to visit family.

[Diane]

I agree with others that you should stay put. Especially with the fact that you have a plane and can get to Kentucky in the time it takes most of us to drive to the beach or a major city! That is very cool and can make your life so much easier. God forbid you move to Kentucky and the opioid epidemic affects your child. That would be a hard no for me.

Plus, your aging relatives will not live forever unfortunately. It sounds like you’re really happy where you are, That is not very easy to find in my opinion.

Good luck!

[Jamie]

I would stay in NC. I grew up in eastern KY and while I loved so much about it and it will always be home home, it isn’t where I would want to raise my children. I’m also in NC and while it doesn’t feel like our forever home, there are a lot more opportunities here than KY.

[Author]

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