The military moves you after every three years.
The first year you get to know the area, the people, the customs, it's hard.
The second year you start to join and make friends. People see you and realize that you are OK.
The thrid year you have a routine and start to know the people who work in the area, grocerystore clerk's name, the cleaner's name, certain waitresses
Year 4 and you are part of the community. You are a regular.
Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes you are at "year 3" after only a year.
My hardest moves were to NC after 5 years in one city in IL. We then moved to CA, VA, and back to NC and back to VA. Even though we moved back to the same area of VA leaving NC the second time was awful, I was part of the community, my daughter part of the movers and shakers at the highschool. We were there for 4 years.
Your mom is only an hour away. You can go while the kids are in school and have lunch, or go shopping.
It's easier to fit in sometimes if you volunteer or work at the school or hospital, or the SPCA.
It's going to get better. I missed my family too when we moved, but I was 19 hours drive time away.