Good Bye

Maybe could they just put their dreams on hold, wait till retirement?! Not them. They didn’t want to be like those couples who put off their dreams till their children are gone. They wanted their children to tour America. Janet fetched information from who knows where and she had places for them to see and things for them to do that were unique and memorable. So off they went on a snowy blustery day like geese who were headed south, but really late. It was two weeks before Christmas, a lousy present to say the least.

If I could have stood in front of that motor home and begged them to stay I think I would have. I did not want to see them leave. My son Chris was trying to be tearless saying goodbye and my heart was breaking. He was saying goodbye to his best bud, Joe, Janet’s son. My little boy, Geoffrey, was saying goodbye to his second family and my little girl, Nicky was doing the same. I had told Janet earlier that I wanted her to intentionally say goodbye to my children. I had known how she hated saying good-bye but these children needed to know from her that she was leaving.

Boy did she ever say good bye to the children. As I was listening and having a hard time holding back the tears, I was regretting having prompted her. It felt like she was taking forever. I hadn’t meant for her to make it so sad. Little did I know then what I know now, it almost was her last goodbye to them.

Weeks before she had left she had gone to a restaurant with three other very good friends and me. She gave us all beautiful teacups to remember her by. In my card she was thanking me for having been a very good friend. I told her it sounded like she was leaving and never coming back or that the friendship was done. The never coming back is what she almost did, the friendship was far from done.