My entire family moved to the same small town in Indiana. I was finally able to buy a home, and it’s great for my kids.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with McKenna Shamburg, 25, who moved from Utah to Indiana to be closer to her family to help raise her children. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I’ve lived in eight states now.

I was born and raised mostly in South Carolina. I left when I was 12 years old to go to Louisville, Kentucky, for two years. Then we moved to Austin for a year, and then we moved back to South Carolina when I was 15. That’s where I met my husband in high school.

Then we moved to Norfolk, Virginia, and then to Hot Springs, North Carolina. Then I graduated from high school, joined the military, and went…