Saying Goodbye

“Goodbyes are such sweet sorrow.” – Shake the Spear

This has been the recurring theme in my life these days. It seems that my friends prefer the months of April and May to take their final leave and bow out of my life. The general thinking may be that summer may be able to take some of the edge off these goodbyes. Too emo I know, but it’s not like I can just close my eyes and pretend that these things aren’t happening.

I said goodbye to another friend this afternoon. While we made light of the entire proceeding we knew that it was a milestone for us both. He’ll be heading down under and start a new phase of his life, while I’ll be left here and continue whatever it is that I do. We said our goodbyes like we were going to meet again the following day. Perhaps it’s better that way. There wasn’t much that we could say to each other. What for? We’ve never really engaged in heavy conversational stuff anyway.

I think the longer we stay on this planet, the lonelier it becomes. It would have been great if we can keep things the way they are; to always gain a friend and never lose them down the road. But that is an ideal that never happens. Eventually friends will have to go on their own, create a new life somewhere and nurture new friendships. The sad part is if we only have these few select friends and one by one they fall off our life like leaves in summer. Eventually we find ourselves alone, surrounded only by the memories of those friends who used to fill the void in our life.

But c’est la vie, we have to play the hand that we’re dealt. The only way to go is to keep making new friends, however hard this may be for some (like myself), keeping these friends as long as we can, and cherish them while they are still with us. We cannot afford to be prisoners of the past. Life is too short to be spent pining for what if’s and what could have been’s.