Many people live in the same state, the same county, and the same city all of their lives. They are surrounded by family, co-workers, friends and loved ones they see every day.

Some people will say this is a blessing for them and their lives; others won't.

The other half of the population move from their hometown; they settle in one area for a certain amount of time, and, for whatever reason, they move to another area, be it another county, state or country.

The ties that are formed when one lives in more than one city are just as real, and can be just as strong as those ties that are formed when a person lives in one place his or her entire life. That may seem hard to believe, but I am sure there are plenty of people who will attest to that fact.

I have found that it doesn't really matter where one lives, or for how long he or she lives in one location- those ties are there. When your path crosses with that of another person's who becomes a close friend, you realize that your life history would not be complete without that other person in it.

I recently read where &#8220maintaining a relationship with those who matter to us can be summed up in one word - agape.”

Agape, or unconditional, love is spoken of in the Bible. If we love someone with an agape-type love, it doesn't matter that we no longer live and exist in the same physical area. We can be miles and miles and hours and hours apart, and we still carry that person around with us in our hearts.

With agape love, relationships can survive misunderstandings, forgetfulness and hurt feelings.

In today's hectic world, we have cell phones, emails, text messaging and instant messaging available to us to help us keep in touch. However, to actually take the time to sit down and write a letter or buy a card from a store and drop it off at the post office really says something about the importance of the relationship.

One of my best friends from Georgia recently sent me an old-fashioned, agape-style way of keeping in touch that I would like to share with you. I haven't been able to see her but once in over two years, but we have the kind of relationship where you pick up right in the middle of the sentence where you left off from the last time you saw each other. And that's a wonderful thing to have.

She began sending me a notebook filled with newspaper clippings, articles, movie clippings-anything that she was thinking of at the time and that she thought I would enjoy reading. She wrote in it just like a diary. She would stop, put it down for a couple of days, and then begin writing again just as if she were talking to me.

Now, it is my turn to fill several pages. I can paste pictures in the notebook, my thoughts on the latest movie I watched, and I can even include cartoons that I think she would laugh at.

Whoever receives the notebook with it completely filled first gets to keep it. Then, we start a new notebook.

I just thought I'd pass along a neat way to keep in touch with those we love but can't see every day.

Life is too short not to keep in touch.

Regina Grayson is managing editor of The Luverne Journal. She can be reached at 335-3541 or by email,: regina.grayson@luvernejournal.com.