<p>It is surprisingly hard on young adults when their parents move. It may be a full decade before you've established your own home town, career, and live in a place you like a lot. </p>
<p>We've had to move many times, including once while a son was mid-college.
He was able to come home and help us move, in fact, fairly insisted on helping because it was so unnerving that his remaining stuff would "be moved" (passive tense). While home that week, he at least got to know the new town by driving many errands for us, then surprised us by putting in a lot of effort to paint the guest room that he'd use whenever he did visit in the coming years. He made it "his room."</p>
<p>If you can involve yourself during the weeks you are home with packing your own things, or have a chance to visit the community your folks are moving to just to spend a day there, it's helpful. Study maps on computer so when you drive into their new town, you feel prepared. Take their move seriously, even if some other folks tell you it means nothing now that you're in college. That's not really true. It still means something.</p>
<p>Will you have a room in their new house, or will it be a kind of dedicated guest room that you'll sleep in when you visit? It makes a difference how it's set up.
Even though we had two kids in college during our last move and one almost out the door, we still decorated the rooms with new bed linens that I had them choose, hang their pictures not mine. When guests come to stay, they sleep in X's room, or Y's room, although I can count on my left hand the number of times my own kids have really slept there.</p>
<p>If you take a summer job in the new community, you can make a very limited bond with it, but I'm afraid it just won't compare to the place where you went to high school and more. Try to visit the home town sometime in the next 5 years, take some pictures, because you'll want to look at it sometimes for no particular reason than to remember it accurately. </p>
<p>The best thing is to be honest with how you feel, as you were in your last paragraph. People respond differently to change. My D happens to love moving because she likes to discover a new place. There could be some places to visit in your parents' new community that are really interesting tourist spots, so when you visit them don't just hang in their living room but get out and learn about their new town. </p>
<p>I did that and felt that I "adopted" New Hampshire when my folks moved there 35 years ago, although I never actually lived there more than a few weeks here or there. </p>
<p>Once when I was very sad about too many job moves affecting our kids, pne said he decided that "home" is wherever his parents lived, and not the place he grew up. When people ask him "where are you from?" he now answers, "Everywhere," because it's easier than reciting all of his (and our) locations. As the above poster said well, home is where your parents are there to welcome you. Home is with them.</p>
<p>Encourage your family to take a great picture (not on moving day, but well before) with you, them, and siblings if you have sibs, in front of your old house. Keep a copy and ask them if they'll hang that in their new house. It
might mean a lot to everyone after the move is done. If not, at least you'll have your own copy to hang.</p>
<p>Other than that, it's just a sad and strange change because you didn't decide it and yet it affects you. I understand this, if that's any help whatsoever.</p>