No matter how many times you have to do it, it will never get easier. Sorry to burst your bubble or stomp on your hopes and dreams, crushing them into microscopic pieces. Saying goodbye might be the hardest thing you ever have to do. But even if it is someone else telling us goodbye, it hurts almost just as much. Sometimes, we have no choice in the matter. Sometimes, it just needs to happen, no matter how much it is going to hurt.
You will probably end up saying goodbye more times than you can count. Whether it be saying goodbye to a family pet, a family member, a friend, or even a boyfriend or girlfriend you no longer love. It might even be a location, such as your childhood home. But sometimes, what we think are goodbyes end up being moments of future hellos. Whether you put weeks of thought into it or it might be a spur of the moment event. You truly can never prepare yourself fully for it.
I’ve said goodbye to my family pet and still remember the pain from that last hug, even though, at the time, I was only in fourth grade. I’ve had to say goodbye to two grandparents, both because they lost their battles to horrible diseases (Cancer and ALS). I’ve said goodbye to Lawrence more times than I can count. I’ve said goodbye to a town I never thought I’d end up loving. Coffeyville, Kansas was a town I ended up at not knowing why I ended up there and on my way home from graduation, I seriously cried half way home knowing I might never return. I’ve said goodbye to the only guy I ever thought I’d love.
Everything that happens in life happens for a reason. And you don’t always know why. God has created each goodbye in your life for a reason. And, sometimes, that goodbye might become a new hello. And He is always reminding me how one day I will have to say goodbye to my temporary home. I will someday be saying hello to my future real home of Heaven. Goodbyes are never going to get easier, but everything in life happens for a reason. And although we might not know the answer of why, we must trust God and learn to say goodbye no matter how much it could hurt.
