Goodbyes are the worst.

No matter how long you’ve known the person, and how strong the relationship is, saying farewell are always hard.

Goodbyes are especially difficult when you’re a young adult. Early adulthood contains an incredibly large amount of changes. You graduate high school, go to college (locally or far away), start a career, make new friends, date- you know how it goes. Since everyone is going through changes at the same time it can be difficult to know if your relationships will continue, or if they’ll fade away as time goes on.

With some people, you already know in your gut. Tears flow as the grief squeezes your heart and everything in you, sucking the air out of your lungs and leaving plenty of room for the ache that remains. And you, unfortunately, cannot feign the ‘see ya later, this isn’t forever’. You already know that this probably is your final goodbye. Plastering on a half-smile, you muster up the strength to give a hug and whisper farewell.

Even so, don’t give up on all relationships too quickly. There is still good in forming healthy friendships, even when some end in painful goodbyes.

Even though goodbyes are the worst, they also mark new hellos. So be open for those hellos, and be ready to greet them with a smile.