Goodbyes

I sit with my foot on the metal bar under the patio table, gently rocking my chair. Wine in my hand and wind in my hair - yeah, I'm relaxed. The coolness of the wind gently sweeps over my radiating sunburn, taking the sting away for fleeting seconds here and there. The leaves are moving all around us, and Sophie (the pup) is captivating us all. We break out of our reverie to talk, laugh, and share pictures.

Goodbye is lurking in the background, the darkness we are ignoring. Acknowledging it would break the magic of this last time together. No, let's instead stay in denial and pretend like it's not really going to happen. Let's pretend like it's just another night together as a family.

Eventually Goodbye gets the better of us because it wins. We have to cave and embrace it. We don't have to like it, though, and you can bet that we won't. Sure, it's great to know we'll be seeing where life goes next, what it brings, and we know that we'll be sharing it still, but there's a sadness in this goodbye nonetheless. We know it won't be the same as this again.

But it was good while it lasted.

~"How lucky I am to have known someone whom it was so hard to say goodbye to." [unknown]~