I remember moving away many times in my childhood. The first time that really mattered was after fourth grade. I would never see my friends again. How could I find such good friends elsewhere? I felt that way again a few years later after another move.
Letters and photographs would be the only way to really connect to these friends. A long-distance phone call was a fortune in the early 80s, so that was out of the question.
Eventually, friendships would fade — it was a lot of work keeping in touch. I maintained one friendship, though, until we both married. Then she moved to Japan, and we lost touch. Yes, I've searched for her on Facebook. I had no luck finding her. :(
My daughter just had a very good friend move away. Both were devastated, as I was so many years ago when I said goodbye to my BFF. But they see each other whenever they want thanks to options like Tinychat, FaceTime and Skype. I'm so jealous!
They connect via text, Facebook or a cell call. Calls are rare, though. Still, they get to "talk" regularly.
Now they do miss just hanging out. It's not like they can go swimming together. And I imagine that watching TV or shopping by phone is not the same.
How lucky, though, to be able to still experience daily life with a friend — to see their expression via video at a joke or story about school. It's immediate gratification, and it keeps the friendship vibrant. There's no waiting for the mail to arrive. If they long to hang out, they can be together with the ease of a click. And that's pretty cool.
Cheers!
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