Without question family and (non-local) friends have suffered the most; I’ve struggled the most to maintain even a semblance of a connection in some instances. Having moved around several times before I understand this to be part of the trade-off. Proximity, even in a digital, global world, is still the number one driver of relationships. It is, after all, the reason I moved in the first place.
Missed birthdays, holidays, special events or even completely random visits have all been the norm, not the exception. Surely some type of weighting can be put to proximity, laziness, prioritization, expense as well as schedule/availability. Need an excuse; I can come up with one. I can also come up with a couple legitimate reasons. You pick ’em. Used to be I could hop in the car and get to several–many relatives within a reasonable drive. Used to be I could walk, bike or drive over to nearly every friend’s within minutes. Now I have one set of distant (2nd, 3rd, 4th cousin families) relatives within driving distance. Fortunately one set is within a ten minute drive so they get a fair amount of my time. Other than that I’ve dropped off the radar. Happened every other time I moved~~~nothing new but it doesn’t mean I like it. Add to it my natural laziness and I land where I am. Final Grade- F