Moving out doesn’t mean leaving family. It means visiting on purpose.

Living in the same house means contact happens by accident, through kitchens and hallways and whatever is on the television, and almost none of it gets chosen. Move out and the accidents stop, so whatever continues has to be arranged. That feels like a loss at first and is really a change in kind, because deliberate contact and constant contact are different things.

Make it a standing arrangement rather than a good intention. A call on the same evening each week, a visit with a date attached. Intentions decay, and anything with a slot in the calendar tends to survive.