> Why is it that it seems as if everyone is leaving? I don't know about you, but everytime I make a friend, either I or that friend has to leave sometime soon. Isn't there ever going to be a lasting relationship? I'm not talking about love or marriage, but the friendships that should last a lifetime - and don't. Is there a reason as to why people always have to say good bye more often than not? Or is it all just me?

As Gahalyn said, I assume that you're in high school. She's right about the non-established nature of high school students, and matters are made worse by the fact that it is becoming more and more common for students to travel far and wide for post-secondary studies now. I was very luck that way; my post-secondary studies led me to Calgary, a larger city in the same province I grew up in, and a significant number of my friends ended up here as well. I still regularly hang out with two friends who were a year ahead of me in school, and my closest friend Frum was in my graduating class. My roommate is a man I've known since grade 6 -- we've known each other for more than fifteen years now, and lived together for about half of that time. I'll probably live with him until one of us gets married, I imagine.

Of course, it gets easier once you're established enough to have financial control over your decisions. Once I had a decent job and knew that this was where I wanted to be, it became a lot easier to make and keep friends -- in part because I've been able to get involved in things that also involve people here for the long term.

I've been lucky in that my closest friends landed where I did. The only other way to have a reasonable chance of not losing old friends after high school is to not go far at all -- lots of people stay close to home. Not that that works for everyone.

Anyway, it gets better with time. Hang in there.