Carol H Tucker Passionate about knowledge management and organizational development, expert in loan servicing, virtual world denizen and community facilitator, and a DISNEY fan
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beladona Memorial Be warned:in this very rich environment where you can immerse yourself so completely, your emotions will become engaged -- and not everyone is cognizant of that. Among the many excellent features of SL, there is no auto-return on hearts, so be wary of where your's wanders...
Today the sad tale of Lotte drew to a close. Tears pricked my eyelids as I read the short post that stated it had come time to say goodbye to their baby.
I have been thinking a lot on the subject of farewells these days, with the accompanying tears. There are times when I go to say goodbye and am suddenly overwhelmed with the thought that this might be the last time I have a chance to say goodbye. That thought obtruded when I was hugging Bonita and JK and turned away to head for the gate of the plane, the feeling that we were blithely parting just like it was a sure thing that we would see each other again across the miles….
Sometimes you just know, neh? Two examples stand out in my mind:
I vividly remember saying goodbye a few years back to a man I had met, shared much with, and spent a lot of time with. I can tell you what I was wearing that hot and muggy July morning. I can tell you how I felt standing on the Metro platform and watching him drive away, hoping he would look back so I could wave -- he didn’t and I always thought he was on the phone already. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I wiped them away, glancing around and hoping that no one would notice, and I knew in my heart that this was a final parting of our ways.
When I went to see my mother that last time in the nursing home two years ago and I knew that visit was the last one because she had started refusing to eat . Odd, I can’t remember what I said to her, something along the lines of it was okay if she wanted to go and that I was sorry I was never the daughter that she wanted me to be but I loved her anyway. I don’t even know if she heard me. We had such a stormy, troubled relationship and I don’t know if either of us got closure that day, but I tried….
Sometimes, most of the time really, you have no idea that you have said your last words. I have often told the story of the one day I failed to go through the little ritual of farewell with Frank when he left for work; he didn’t come home and I have grieved over that omission for more than a decade.
I try to be a lot more careful these days when I take leave of those that I love, and even those that I work with. You never know when -- or if -- you will get a chance to bid them farewell again and the foot prints that they leave on your spirit never fade..
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