Sometimes it's just so hard to say Good-Bye...

Whether it is saying good-bye to the baby girl that is growing by leaps and bounds into adulthood...


or farewell to a friend that you are not sure when you will see again...

saying good-bye has never been very easy for me. I am reminded of a line from one of my all-time favorite movies Out of Africa, where the lead character, Karen Von Blixen says, "I'm much better at hello."

Good-bye often equals change and maybe that is what gets me most. But change can be good, right? I have to remind myself that sometimes all those emotions that rise to the surface during good-byes are really just my body's way of making room for all the new things heading my way. I need to make room for the changes heading my way because, for one thing, my babies aren't babies anymore. I need to make room in my heart for the first kisses, the first loves, and the first heartbreaks they will undoubtedly go through...even as I pine for the days when I could scoop them up in my arms and kiss them as much as I wanted.

And secondly, I need to make room for the changes that happen to me and my friends that effect our relationships. Time, distance, effort, life-- all those things change for people and affect change in people and I have to keep that in mind as I reminisce of times past and of the closeness that always seemed unchangeable, yet has.

I must remember that saying "good-bye" makes the space in our lives for the "hellos" that are even more rewarding. I am, like Karen Blixen, much better at hello anyway...