I'm very sorry to hear this sugar. I've been through this before in a different way, although not with a tickling friend, but nonetheless it hurt.
In 1997, my best friend of 16 years moved here to Lancaster from Connecticut. I grew up in the same town with him, and went to school with him in Junior High and High school. He moved during a very difficult time in my life when I had a lot of other things going on, so it was doubly depressing. Ironically, and perhaps by fate, I was looking to get out of where I was living in New Jersey, took a look here, and decided Lancaster was the place for me, so just 22 months later I joined him here, and now we live 6 miles from each other, and get together weekly. It is great to be near him and to see him all the time, but it was very difficult during the two years we were apart, so I can relate a bit to what you're going through. Hang in there. Hopefully if you are good friends, you will still stay in touch and see each other. Distance doesnt mean the end of friendships. I now live 200 miles from some of my friends in New York, and still see them several times a year. I'm a believer that good relationships can endure and last across the miles, and that distance is only a physical thing, but real friends can still endure.
Mitch
