My mom and I occasionally reminisce about dropping Caitlin off at college, and the way in which reality struck us. I was going into fourth grade when we moved her into BC, and I was - naturally - quite naive about the whole situation and how it would change our lives at home. When we finally said those sappy goodbyes, we started driving away and, out of nowhere, it finally hit me...I was all alone now. I jumped out of the car and ran to Caitlin, and gave her what I would assume to her was an obnoxious lung-squeezing hug. After that Kodak moment, when we drove away (for real this time) I said to my mom, "Caitlin's never going to live with us at home again, is she?" My blunt statement made us realize the gravity of the changes that were to come, but...we knew Caitlin was really happy, so it made the distance pretty bearable.
So with that optimistic mentality, I'm able to be happy for my friends going off to school, because they're about to have the best four years of their life. Life is so much simpler and more enjoyable when you celebrate others' happiness instead of wallowing in introversion.
Still, goodbyes are never easy, even if you try to prepare yourself for them. I've had my fair share of goodbyes already in my life thus far; some of them will take/have taken several months to sink in, and the hardest few drastically changed my life forever, but not necessarily in all negative ways.You learn to acclimate, because, well, life goes on. It has to. Optimist that I am, my philosophy is this:
Sometimes it takes being separated from someone to show you just how much your heart can love. And it's a wonderful feeling knowing you have someone in your life you're able to miss that much.
