Goodbye, Sweetheart

I hate saying “Goodbye”. I will go to great lengths to avoid saying goodbye to a person. Last year several good friends of mine graduated, and I actually tried to not to see them around campus so that I wouldn’t have to say goodbye. I would much rather disappear from a person’s life, not in an “I hate keeping in touch with people so I don’t want to try” kind of way, but in a “We had a great last hurrah and I am going to remember that awesome time we had hanging out” kind of way. Goodbyes put so much pressure on everyone to make the time spent together be meaningful, it puts too much strain on the interaction and makes the time spent together much less enjoyable

So, I find it a bit ironic, that I have spent the last week doing one of the things that I absolutely abhor. I have been saying goodbye to family and friends, at school, at home, over the phone. But through this I have learned a bit about the different kinds of goodbyes that are prevalent in life.

There is the Bis später (see you later, dueces). This is what I have been saying to my friends up at school who are my age or younger. These people will be there when I return. They will be there when I get back to listen to my stories and to help me with my classes. To these people, who I know will be there to see me when I get back, I say see you later.

Then, there is the slightly more severe Tschüs (toodles, informal goodbye). This goes out to the people that are graduating. They will be entering the workforce and will spread out all over the country from Chicago to Houston. I will do my best to stay in touch with them and visit with them. I will megabus, and road trip and do what I can to find out what is going on in their lives and to keep them updated on mine. But, inevitably, the distance will cause a bit of a problem and no one will actually talk with anyone as much as we would like. Phone conversations aren’t a great replacement for hanging out, and I still haven’t figured out how to give or receive a hug over the phone.

The Tschau (ciao, informal goodbye) is what I have been saying to my immediate family. It is pretty common for my mom, dad, brother and me to say goodbye like this any time someone is going traveling. And saying ciao is never so bad. They will be here when I get back and mom has already gotten rid of the dial up internet so that she can learn how to Skype and keep in touch with me that way.

The last goodbye that I have had to say is the Auf Wiedersehen (Goodbye, formal goodbye). That is what I had to say to my Grandmother. Having to say goodbye to someone when you know that it is most likely the very last time you are going to ever see them sucks. Really bad.

Goodbyes are tough, but some people like them, they need the closure. So I have tried to oblige. If I missed you, it wasn’t intentional, and I will see you later.