No More Goodbyes

I hate goodbyes. You’d think I’d be better at it at this point in my life–I’ve had lots of practice. It started when I was little. We moved enough that I never attended the same school for more than 2 years until I reached college.

Later, living in a college town, every 4 years or so there’d be a new batch of friends and more people to say goodbye to a few years down the road.

Then there were friends made and parted at camp, my own job changes (including moves to new cities), and now we’ve graduated to changing churches and locations for new ministry opportunities, etc. In the pre-internet/pre-Facebook days, that often meant losing touch altogether. Not easy for me.

I’ve discovered that I don’t even like goodbyes for other people. As we walked away from Boo’s last day at preschool, I got as teary as if I were leaving my own friends. (What’s up with that?)

Some people have the ability to only look forward. They hardly remember the people they leave behind; they’re already on to the next thing as soon as the plans are made.

Part of me wishes I could be that way. I don’t live in the past altogether; I think I’m pretty good at living in the moment, actually. The thing is, I want everyone to be part of that moment with me. While I make space for the new people in our life, I want to bring the ‘old’ people too.

When we go on vacation, we seldom travel to anyplace we don’t know someone. There are many locations we’d love to visit, but we tend to use our infrequent time off to go places we’ve lived before so we can spend time with people who have left their imprints in our hearts and lives.

Some goodbyes are temporary, like those we said to Bug and Boo’s classmates; we’ll likely see most of them in the fall. Some, like high school and college graduations, are more indefinite, and we can’t be sure when we might cross paths again. The hardest of all are those where we won’t meet on this earth again. People I care about have experienced each of these kinds of separations in recent days.

Even though I hate goodbyes and do what I can to stay connected to people—past and present—who have left their stamp in my heart, I am grateful and comforted to know that the day is coming when there will be no more goodbyes.

Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.
I Thess. 4:17-18 The Message