see ya later, alligator.

I said a goodbye tonight to a friend whom I will miss dearly. It's hard, isn't it? We ate dinner, and chatted over a mini-baseball game and icecream. It was fun, and it was sad. I won't see most anyone from home until November once I leave in a few days, and I forget how sometimes, goodbye's are the toughest difficulties to overcome.

There are songs, millions of songs, that remind you of that person.
There are places where you always hung out.
There are times that I will be in Croatia, or Greece, and wish desperately that so and so was here to witness this awesomeness with me.

I have a few more goodbyes to lend out, a few more hugs to offer before Sunday. And those will be just as sad. It's always sad, because who wants to be left behind? Who wants to let go of a meaningful embrace? A wonderful conversation?

I'm not the one who is being left behind this time, however, but I am leaving people behind for whom I care deeply. My family first and foremost, and then my friends.

I once was naive enough to believe that goodbyes would get easier as I became more experienced with them. Saying goodbye to family and friends before I left for college that first year was treacherous. It was harsh, and awful, and full of silent weeping. Saying goodbye to college friends after my freshman year at college was rough, difficult, and hurtful. After just getting to know those friends, we would be seperated by UPark the following year.

Then Sophomore year came, and saying goodbye to my family became a bit easier...just because I was used to living without them for periods at a time. But that didn't make Sophomore goodbyes any easier. I cried bitterly upon arriving home from my Sophomore year at school, because I'd become closer to a few people who are now transferring to UPark in the fall.

Amazing, isn't it? Goodbyes never get any easier, but frightfully harder. They never become less sad, but more heartwrenching.

I realize I'm not leaving forever, but suddenly, it feels that way. So...
Auf Wiedersehen
Adeus
arrivederci
αντίο
до свидания
さようなら
안녕
vaarwel
au revoir
Goodbye and I'll miss you terribly. But I will be back soon with stories upon stories, and a worldly smile upon my face. Won't that be worth the leave?