How Do You Say Goodbye?

This has been a very difficult month.  We have had quite a few lasts; last CCD classes, last ballet classes, last co-op class, last Oritory with the nuns, last parties.  I'm not good at lasts.  Most of these were lasts for my children and I was the one that got choked up over saying goodbye. I'm a cryer and having to say goodbye breaks my heart.

How do you say goodbye to those who have shared in your very personal and often private tribulations and triumphs?  These dear friends have been with us through losses and additions.  They have been with us through pregnancies, births, baptisms, First Communions, and Confirmations. At some point, friends become family.  How do you say goodbye to family you know you may never see again?  Let's not kid ourselves, Utah is a world away, and as much as our friends here love us, coming that far to visit is just not a reality.

I hope each and every one of our "family" here knows how much we love them; how much we've appreciated their friendship; how much we will miss them.  May God Bless each and everyone of our dear friends here in Maryland.

Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again.  ~William Shakespeare