Goodbye for a while

My husband left this morning for several weeks of military training. And even though we're an "experienced" military family, I never quite get used to it. To being alone, that is.

Nothing is quite right when he's gone. Already the house has a certain emptiness to it; as though it possesses the knowledge that he won't be home tonight.

The kids laugh and play, not quite understanding the difference between goodbye for a bit and goodbye for a while. I'm not sure I quite understand the difference either. Is saying goodbye ever easy?

Sure, hello's and goodbye's are all part of life. Not just military life, but life in general. We all say them. And we get used to them within a routine. From the mundane, "Hello" at the grocery store check-out, to the whispered "Goodbye" as your spouse leaves for work.


But don't our hearts open and close with those words? Doesn't something move and stretch and pull within us, as we welcome people into our lives and then see them go? Don't we leave something behind every time we "meet and greet" and "hail and farewell?"


The goodbye this morning was a tearful one. I had worked hard to hold back and tie down my wayward emotions over the last few days. But as the moment approached, as always, the reality hit. This is goodbye for more than just a few hours, or just a few days...it's goodbye for a while.