I get attached.

My father has always wanted to do something more adventurous than just backpacking. He had long joked that the year he turned 40 would be the year our family would leave our suburban life and sail around the world. In reality, his 40th year was the year we moved to Alaska. I was 15.

It was an IBM assignment and we knew it would only be for 3-5 years. My parents advised me not to tell people in Anchorage that we were short-timers. That would prevent them from getting to know us and reduce our chances of developing meaningful friendships. And so I kept my mouth shut.

Little did I know that the friendships my parents made during that time would grow to be among the most enduring of their adult lives.

Now I'm an adult and this has new meaning. I get attached to people. My friend Denise Nagle moved to Phoenix. How easy do you think it is to make friends in the hospital when you are both antepartum patients on full bedrest and hopped up on muscle relaxants to the point that you can barely speak? And the last time I was in Arizona she had the audacity to be busy laboring with her second child! Another friend of mine, a Chevron wife, moved to Houston. I liked her, too.

Last Spring another friend told me they were being transferred. I should have seen this coming as they'd never lived any place longer than four years. But I got really attached to her; she and her husband are smart, interesting, fun people. Every now and then you meet someone very special, someone you really connect with. For me at least, those people are few and far between. She is one of those people. I tried hard not to pull away from her while the corporate assignment deck was being shuffled. And honestly, I don't think I did: I was as busy as any of us are.

After what seemed like forever, she phoned and told me that, as it turns out, and after many anxious days and nights, they are staying put until their visas expire. Were I not on site at my client, I would have screamed many decibels louder than I did. I am happy for them. And I am happy for me.