It’s about to be Thanksgiving everybody, so pull up a chair, get settled at the table, and let’s talk family and the holiday season.

Thanksgiving is probably less than a week away by the time you’re reading this, and that means an onslaught of family obligations. Maybe it’s a bunch of family parties, dinner at grandma’s house, or a family trip to somewhere warm. Or maybe that’s not what your holidays look like at all. Maybe your extended family lives far away, so it’s just you’re immediate family on holidays. If you fall into the second category, you’re just like me.

I’ll briefly outline my family before we continue. As far as extended families go, we don’t have a huge one. It’s really just my maternal and paternal grandparents, my dad’s brother and his wife, and two cousins. But what we lack in size we make up for in close bonds. A census done by the Pew Research Center says that fewer than a third of people who live in Western states remain in their hometown as adults. The migratory habits of people from the West are representative of our family, as we inhabit 4 different states: Colorado, Washington, Idaho, and Illinois. Despite our varying locations, we maintain a deep connection.

 Even though we’re close, I can’t help but feel the weight of our distance around the holidays. Don’t worry though, I’m not going to make this blog melancholy. Actually, it’s kind of the opposite. Here are my top 4 best tips for keeping family close, even when they’re far.

1. Video Call/ Text

Yes, I know this one seems kind of obvious and simple, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a good option. I think that some people forget about this one because it is so obvious. At least, that’s how it is in my case. It’s easy to put off just texting your relative because you think you’ll do it later, but in reality, it slips your mind. So, if your family is far away, the easiest way to keep in touch is just to reach out. In my family, we always make an effort to do full-family Facetimes around the holidays and send little texts to one another updating each other on our lives. 

Recently, I’ve been texting my family updates about college acceptances, and that has been a great way for them to hear about me, but it usually leads to great conversations about their lives too. So, I encourage you to get back to the basics and simply text your long-distance family.

       2. Social Media

Social media takes hits all the time for being a shallow highlight reel of peoples’ lives. While I’m not disagreeing, I think sometimes people miss the point of being on social media. At its core, social media is a great way to keep people updated on what’s going on in your life, just in a different formal than texting. It keeps things interesting by incorporating photos or videos of life’s events. It makes them come alive more than just storytelling or text messages can.

Like I mentioned before, my cousins, aunt, and uncle live in Colorado. Some of my favorite posts in my Instagram feed are photos my uncle posts about their weekend hikes or of the beautiful sunsets over the mountains where they live. In return, my uncle and grandma always comment and reply to anything I post related to senior year activities, and it’s such a nice feeling knowing that they’re just as invested in what is going on in my life as I am in theirs.

       3. Send Something Special

This is just a little step further than sending a text. This tip involves sending something to your loved ones that really remind you of them. For example, my grandma sends me my horoscope almost weekly. This is consistently one of the highlights of my week. Getting my horoscope shows that she was thinking of me in a way that is a step beyond just a simple “I love you” message (but don’t get me wrong, those are great too). 

Another great way to go a step further than a text is to send cards. Birthdays are a great time to do this, but don’t forget about other holidays. I sometimes get Halloween cards complete with spooky drawings from my cousins or Valentine’s Day cards from my grandma. There doesn’t even need to be an occasion to send something special, it can be as simple as a note to show you’re thinking about them from far away.

        4. Take Advantage of Time Together

Ultimately, the best remedy for creating long-lasting family bonds is to actually be around your family. That being said, I know that not everyone can see family all the time. That just makes it so much more important to fully enjoy the time you have together. I used to fall into the trap of getting annoyed by loud family dinners or lack of privacy when all of us were in the same house. Eventually, though, I came to the realization of just how wasteful this is. If I only get to see my family once a year, it’s only logical to soak up as much time as I can with them. So, if you’re in the same boat as me, I recommend you look around at your family when you’re together. Remember what it feels like to smile and laugh as a group because, at the end of the day, happy memories from being together are what’s going to get you through the long months apart.

This Thanksgiving, I hope you all get your fair share of turkey, good football, and the Macy’s parade. But even more than that, I hope you look around the table (or the FaceTime screen) and enjoy your family time because, in the end, that’s the most important thing about this time of year.