To the one who has moved away:

When you lose someone in your life, it is easy to understand the sadness that remains after that person is gone. Maybe you feel forgotten, or abandoned, or even let down. But no one talks about what happens when you're the person who leaves everything behind to chase down an opportunity, to move on in life, or to start over.

Getting the chance to move to another city, to start a new job, and to seize a new opportunity is quite possibly the most exciting thing to happen to you. Starting over, for all of the right reasons, seems like the perfect way to embrace what would be the start of your own life. And it turns out to be everything you believed it would- so many doors have opened simply due to taking that leap of faith and moving on from everything you once knew. Had you never left home, left the people and place you knew so well, you would never have created this new life filled with unforgettable memories.

But when you start over, people don't usually talk about what you have to leave behind in order to do so.

With hundreds of miles between you, you said goodbye to the small town you grew up in, the family that supports you every day, and the people that made leaving so bittersweet. And suddenly, starting anew seems to feel more like losing what once made you, you. Relationships that were once so solid start crumbling at the foundations. You find it hard to remember the color of your old bedroom walls. You only hear from friends through status updates and photo updates.

"Home" starts to become a little less clear.

But one day, you get a text from your high school best friend that says she misses you dearly and can't wait to tell you the latest news. Your sister tags you in a Facebook post that makes you laugh so hard you cry. And you don't feel so lost anymore. Suddenly, pieces of home start to surround you through memories, phone calls, and overdue conversations. Because no matter where you go, no matter what new life you start to live, you know that home is a feeling, not necessarily a place. Home is found within people and memories, not the walls of rooms you inhabited.

So while moving on and moving out can feel a little bittersweet, the people you leave behind will never be left for long. Home has a way of catching up to us, and we have a way of always returning to where we once were.