nerdygirl wrote:
The transition is very hard. I have moved a few times and have kept *VERY* few friends from the past. When I have been still trying to meet people and make friends in my new place, I have missed my previous friends very much.
To me, it is kind of like having something to hold onto while making the transition. I think missing old friends helps me to feel less lonely than if I was just in a new place with no one to know AND no one to miss. That would be worse. Missing old friends helps me remember I am capable of making friends at some level and also makes me yearn for friendship, which motivates me to keep trying to meet new people.
I like others' suggestions, too, about keeping in touch with old friends. Once you make new friends, it will be easier to accept that older friendships change and sometimes people move on.
I don't know if that is so healthy nerdygirl. What you might do first is try reaching out to your current friends for a while and then very slowly get yourself involved in other things. When I moved from one end of the US to another about a decade ago I kept in touch with my parents while also writing to one friend. In the mean time I made friends with a friend of my aunt's and her grandchildren and slowly got involved in things. I have been meeting people ever since.