Funny Thing About Moving

Moving 3 times in 3 1/2 years has taught me a lot. One thing is that moving will show you exactly who your friends are.

About a year before our first move, I had a dear friend move. From my perspective, she was uncaring and cavalier about moving away. At that time, another friend explained to me that it is harder to be left than to leave. That was right. During our first move, I had excitement and a certain amount focus on the future. It was during that time that I really got it.

I was leaving everyone behind. I wasn't focused on them, I was focused on me and what needed to happen to make the transition. My friend who moved away wasn't uncaring or cavalier. She was focused on what needed to happen. She was moving. It wasn't that me or my feelings didn't matter, it was that at the time she needed to be focused on herself. I was the same way.

The thing I don't and never will understand is how quickly things dissolve once you do move away.

My friend who moved away and I still stay in touch. I hear from her nearly daily and she's the first person I share my life with and the person I usually ask for prayer. Since our first move, I have only one friend who's stayed in contact with me.

When I left the first time, I had a ton of friends. The first month we were gone, I got lots of texts. They eventually stopped. That first year, we had four visitors. The second year, we had three visitors. While in KC, I went months without seeing anyone. It is almost like after we moved away the first time, we were permanently forgotten.

Since we moved to Indiana, I've had one person text me. That's it. The same person from back home who's stayed in contact since the first move.

I still scratch my head. Friends of 19 years, 10 years, 8 years, 5 years and so on. Nobody bothers to contact us any more. In fact, most of the contact we make goes unanswered. It's sad. I know I didn't reconnect with too many people while we were in KC, but gosh. We literally hear from NONE of them. Even friends that were close enough to know how tough this move was going to be have abandoned us. It's painful and I fight anger.

There is a ray of sunshine in all of this. We are just under 2 hours from where we lived in Ohio. I made a friend there, really we made friends with a family there. This woman and I have stayed in touch since we moved from Ohio. She is an encouragement to me and I appreciate that she takes the time to check in on me as I try to do the same. Her and her son came to visit the day after we moved in and I can't wait for her to visit again. In fact, I look forward to being able to do things with her and her family in the future.

While I am sad that I don't mean much to many people, I am thankful that I mean something to a few people.