“Happy trails to you, until we meet again. Some trails are happy ones, Others are blue. It’s the way you ride the trail that counts, Here’s a happy one for you.” – Dale Evans

I could never be an airline stewardess, but not so much for the reasons you may be thinking. I HATE to fly – but even more than that, I hate goodbyes.  I can’t imagine a job where on a daily basis you have to say goodbye hundreds of times.

Bye Bye Bye Bye

I think it probably stems party from my unease with change – duh. I was thinking about this today at 4 am when I should have been sleeping, of course.   The holidays are upon us and although they come with their own set of busy stresses and excitement, the part I think I don’t like the most is when it’s over and you have to say good-bye.

In case you were wondering, and trust me I know you weren’t, I was indeed THAT mom sobbing in the parking lot, unable to drive home after I brought my kids to college.   (Yes, I may have shed a tear or two each and every single semester for each and every child as we drove away.)   If you want to know difficult you should have seen me when my youngest Kristen decided to study abroad in England for a semester.  Leaving her was one of the most difficult days of leaving a child at school.  This “issue”  started way back when I put my son on the school bus for the first time.   Now, in my defense, on his first day I had just had a baby the week before so hormones were a raging, and Dan was going off to kindergarten and Becca to preschool so two of my babies were being taken ripped from my arms and put into that cold cruel world where I could not keep them safe 100% of the time.  ( Note- just looking for this picture brought back so many memories I was in tears)

Kristen, Becca and Dan on some random first day of school

If you have ever been on a Disney Cruise which I highly recommend (I do not, but should, get a commission for promoting them)  as you pull away from their private island, Castaway Cay,  the staff don giant Mickey hands and wave goodbye as you sail off from one of the best memory makers of your life.   If they were smart the booking agent should be standing there with pen in hand asking me to sign up for another cruise.

Bye Bye from paradise

Saying goodbye in these circumstances is not even in the same ballpark  as saying goodbye to a loved one that you are never going to see ever again.    That’s an entirely different situation.   A friend of mine emailed this week to tell me that his beloved grandmother had passed.  Now she had a few medical issues and had lived a good life and was well loved.   We used to chat about her from time to time, and although I had never met her I was sad that despite it being for the best he has to say goodbye one final time.

The past month since my job ended (see a prior post)  has been challenging at times.  The CFO had said many years ago in a very eloquent way that we were more than co workers – that it felt like family as we all sat around my dining room table enjoying a meal and getting to know each other.  So partly I feel like I have had to say good bye to friends and family.   I enjoyed the social aspect of work much more than I enjoyed the actual work -and saying goodbye to the people you honestly aren’t going to chat with on a regular basis is difficult.

I wish you well until we meet again.   See you later alligator.  You take care Teddy bear.  May you live long and prosper.  Catch you on the flip side.

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.  And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.” – Irish Blessing