Saying good-bye

Saying it is weird, isn't it? Especially to a loved one who is leaving.

Some people handle it easily, rolling it off the tongue like they are giving directions to a stranger.
Some people linger on the words, repeating them slowly as the realization sinks in for them.
Some people get choked up trying to say it.
Some people get it out, then burst into tears.
Some people whisper it passionately into the loved one's ear as they hug him or her tight.
Some people can't say it at all.
Some people say it and feel the tears welling in their eyes and fight to stop them from pouring over.
Some people never say it and never will.
Some people find another clever way to say it.
Some people just wave.
Some people can only write it down.

I think I have been all these people at one time or another.

I have had the terrible honor of leaving and being left by loved ones so many times in my life I have lost count.

I left for college and said farewell to all I had ever known. My family. My best friends. My then boyfriend who I believed at the time was my true love.
I left San Francisco after two years of getting close to some amazing loved ones.
I was left as one of my favorite buddies I worked with at the Marriott moved back to Utah to go back to school.
I graduated college in Fullerton, CA and a mass exodus of all my peers and myself occurred.
I moved to Chicago and left behind my best friend and a boyfriend I thought I might be with forever.
I was left by one of my favorite Chicago pals as she ventured into the uncharted territory south of the border.
I was left by various old and new friends in the last few years as their incubator times in Chicago finished and they all moved on to the next phases of their exciting lives.

And today, I said good-bye to one of my dearest friends as he ventures on from our tiny corner of Chicago.

It never gets any easier.

Yet remembering that change is inevitable and good for the soul--cleansing even--is so important to do during times like this. All the people you touch during your life will never forget you, and you won't forget them. And they were there for a reason--to pick you up when you fell into a bad situation, to remind you that you are beautiful, to keep you company on those long winter nights, to give you great insight when you needed it most--whatever the case, they came to bring something extra to your life and hopefully to bring great joy to you as well. And as long as you got to relish in that connection for that time, that should be enough to leave you more than pleased when at last the party is over.

Because to have touched a soul like that, and to have been touched by such a soul...well that is truly the most amazing thing. I venture to say that is one of the best parts of this life.

And besides, there is always Skype.com