Hard to Say Goodbye

One of the hardest things in life for me is saying goodbye. I just don't like it. Why do we have to say goodbye to people we care about? The longer I live, the more goodbyes I have to say. I am not a crier, unless it comes to saying goodbye. Whenever I got transferred to a new area on my mission in Brazil, I just couldn't keep the tears from falling as I tried to give a hug and say Adeos to my newly found friends. I sob uncontrollably at funerals. For the past six years now, in the month of May, I have had to say Au Revoir to a group of students who have become my good friends.

Last night, my Student Body Officers had a Goodbye Banquet. We laughed as we shared some of our most embarrassing moments and some of our greatest memories together. One such story was of a girl who who left her keys in her locked car while it was running and then went to a school activity with her buddies. When she came back, the car wasn't running anymore: it was out of gas! Haha...Another funny award given was a big bag of red Doritos to a boy who goes beet red every time he gets put on the spot in front of the rest of us. When he came up to pick up his chips, he was indeed the color of the bag. It was cute. After all these awards, we handed out some serious awards to the students. At the end of the night, the kids surprised the two of us advisors the best gift I have ever received: a scrapbook of pictures of them from the year along with personal thank you letters next to each of their pictures. These books are priceless. I opened the book and had to shut it immediately because it was too hard to fight back the tears while reading those letters in front of them. It was very touching. We all need to hear that we have made a difference in someone's life. Something like this makes me want to send out more letters of appreciation.

Then this morning, at Copper Hills High School, we had our Annual Goodbye Assembly for all 2500 students. We watched final performances from the senior cheerleaders, drill team and band. We all laughed and cried through the Goodbye Slideshow. The hardest part was the last 6 minutes where the Student Body officers hung up their sweaters on the coat rack one by one before leaving the stage. Before they walked up the staircase and disappeared behind the curtain, they showed off their new t-shirt of the college or program that they will be attending in the Fall. It felt like all of us were symbolically hanging up our sweaters, closing one chapter of life and entering another. Sobs were heard throughout the auditorium. It is exciting to think of all the future holds, but it is really hard, all the same. We must lose sight of the shore before we can discover new oceans.

I don't do well with change in my life. I like things to be constant: my friendships to last forever, my family to never get sick or move away and myself to turn 22 years old at each birthday. This cannot happen, though. One thing I have to learn is how to accept change and actually look forward to it. I am working on this. I know that lots of good things await because lots of good things have come so far. I am grateful for all the wonderful people in my life who have blessed me and inspired me to be better than I am.