My parents live 600 miles away in Colorado. My brother lives in Atlanta. I have other relatives in New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, New York as well as here in Oklahoma.

Though it has been close to 20 years since I got out of high school, I have managed to keep in touch with some of the friends I had in my northern Virginia stomping grounds. One of them sent me an e-mail the other day which told the news of my old high school closing down at the end of the 2004-2005 school year. That's a bit sad.

It's tough to keep in touch with friends these days. America has a very transient population now. Still, friends are very important, especially in this age of rampant divorce. My closest friendships have lasted far longer than any of my serious relationships. But, I should say I've never been married (not sure I want to do so either).

My Dad retired about five years ago and moved with my Mom out to the west coast, which is where all of us kids relocated to after high school (because my Dad maintained his residency in WA state, we all went to the UW to get the resident break on tuition). So, we're all very close.

But we're close psychologically as well. Probably from all that moving around and having to start over with just each other for friends every time, you know? It was handy having a twin sister -- instant lunch table friend at every new school!

I really only have kept in touch with one or two friends from high school or before. My sister still has a close friend from grade school, though. It was just too hard staying in touch with friends when I was a kid.

My family seems to come from a long line of nomads. My dad moved often growing up, and continued the tradition with us. We moved every two years, so I didn't even keep track of my friends through school, much less after I left. My immediate family all settled in Florida (eventually). I've been in Austin 20 years, but keep changing neighborhoods. But now I am actually considering moving.