Something is wrong when families feel compelled to disperse all over the country. It used to be normal for families to all live in the same county or town. Why disperse? For a sushi restaurant or Thailand food? Big whoop.
A lot of these people may not have been traveling very far, and we don’t know all of their circumstances.
It might be better to simply wish the best for them, than to criticize them.
Jobs is part of it. People left here (Pittsburgh PA) in the last few decades as the economy crashed and jobs were sent overseas, along with factories and plants.
We disperse for work and opportunity...for me it was school, service, and work...for my brothers it was work...same for my sisters...my hometown of 800 had no work...we still call it home.
My mom agrees with you. There is very little family left within convenient driving distance. Relatives moved away for various reasons, but nothing that should really trump being close to family.
How about getting a job? My hometown had two things that would pay well, become a State employee (it is the State Capital) or walk five blocks from my high school and sign up to become a member of the UAW and shove pistons into engine blocks for 30 years.
Also, I never wanted to be a civilian and yearned to join the military. As a matter of fact all four of my parents children had a career in the military and ended up all over the USA after getting out to have a good job using the skills we learned while serving.
This isn't an agrarian society where a vast majority of our population works on the family farms and companies actually discourage their workers from working an entire career with that one company. It is either move to where the next job is or your family lives in a cardboard box and starves.
Our parents lived where they wanted to. I think we have that same choice.
My parents lived south of Buffalo where the annual snowfall is over 100” and I chose to move to Florida. I think I made a good choice.
“Why disperse? For a sushi restaurant or Thailand food? Big whoop.”
Doubtful that families relocate to get good sushi. More like going where the jobs are.
Ideally, we could go back to where families were geographically close for many generations. Modes of travel and new technology have changed that.
Visiting my mom, where the family has lived since the 1700s is great. Family is everywhere — even family you don’t know. It’s comforting in a way. (And when you meet a guy in town, and he asks you out, confirm that he’s not a distant cousin. I learned that in the ‘60s — LOL!)
Dispersing...like moving west in a covered wagon?
Of course back in the 19th century if you moved away, you likely never saw your left behind relatives again.