Do you laugh at the times past? Cry at the separation to come? Toughen up and say with a shrug, "well, that's life"?
The truth is, I don't think I know how to say goodbye.
Obviously I have before. Goodbye to family when moving to Biola. Goodbye to loved ones as they pass away. Goodbye to a wonderful story as you finish the book. Goodbye to friends as they move away. Goodbye to relationships as you realize that they aren't quite the best. Goodbye to your favorite menu item that is being replaced.
Now granted not all of those are life-changing events but there is an element of sadness that comes with each one of them.
I've been mulling this over for a number of weeks now in anticipation (and dread) of my dear friend, Lorena, moving from our wonderful Southern California home to Minnesota for graduate school.
Now, I understand it is a wonderful school but....REALLY Lorena? You realize that it's COLD there, right???
But in all seriousness I think she summed it up best with a simple statement.
We have the rest of our lives to be friends.
And it's true. We do. A change in geography will not necessitate that we never speak. Shoot, with Skype and FaceTime it doesn't even mean we can't see each other's faces in real time every once in awhile.
So with a deep breath, a night of karaoke and a bottle of wine just for the occasion I would like to cheers to being friends for the rest of our lives.
And I'll see you next time.
A note from the author: I realize this does not help with saying goodbye to other things such as a good book or your favorite menu item but I only wish you the utmost courage as you face these difficulties and let me know how you fare!
I think you are on the right track as you try to still see the good things left even though your friend is leaving, ie; staying in touch even though you'll be miles apart. So continue to look for the up side and maybe this allows them to be goodbyes instead of badbyes.
ReplyDeleteU.D.