Saying Goodbye

Saying Goodbye

How many times does a person say goodbye in a lifetime? Probably a lot.  Goodbyes and hellos are so commonplace who keeps count? Most of the time, see you tomorrow or even next week, are attached to the goodbyes. These are the easy ones. The goodbyes that mean I won’t see you for a long time are a lot harder.

Two months ago, our son Nick and his wife Jackie told us they were uprooting and moving from Bozeman to Portland, Oregon. It came as a shock to us. We had grown used to having three of our grandchildren a short drive away for almost twelve years. Now they would be 800 miles away.

I remember all the times we moved from Minnesota to Montana and back again. It was exciting, at least for me. New adventures in new places were spice that added to life. Judy was less excited but persevered through it all. Looking back, I didn’t give much thought to how our parents felt about all our goodbyes. I was focused on the challenges ahead, not on what was left behind.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. We are the parents who are having to say goodbye to our adult children and grandkids. Imagining life with them growing up far from us has become an emotional yo-yo. No doubt they will plant roots and prosper in their new environment. For us, it’s going to take some getting used to.

Yes, there is FaceTime and phone calls along with occasional holidays and the summer week together at Sandpoint, Idaho. The flight from Bozeman to Portland is only an hour long and fairly inexpensive. But it’s not the same. Trouble with getting old is you want everything to stay the same. It never does.

Instead of goodbye, I say: adios, arrivederci, ciao, aud wiedersehen, au revoir, sayonara and bon voyage (while shedding a few tears). See you all in Portland for Thanksgiving.

Papa and Nana