The Final Countdown

"And if you never stop when you wave goodbye
You just might find if you give it time
You will wave hello again
You just might wave hello again."
-John Mayer "Wheel"

I HATE goodbyes. You all should know that by now. But unfortunately these next 11 days are going to be full of them. Today marked the beginning of the end for me as I said goodbye to 7 of my friends from Holy Cross who came from all over the country to spend the weekend with me in Seattle. I played tour guide most of the time they were here since most had never been here before, but the weekend culminated in a celebration of all things fall last night. Over 20 people gathered in my house to share a full blown Thanksgiving dinner (since I'll be missing the real one) and since it also happened to be Halloween we spent the evening in costume as well. Although the tryptophan knocked us all out pretty early, it was still so much fun to celebrate with family and friends last night, and to be surrounded by so many great people all weekend. I am reminded time and time again of how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life. These past few days have been full of those reminders as friends traveled from near and far to come visit me and spend one last weekend together before I take off. It was especially cool because I already said goodbye to most of these people after graduation thinking I wouldn't see them again before I left. Just goes to show you never know when you might cross paths with someone again!

It's hard for me to believe that I won't be seeing any of you for a pretty long time. I know that we'll keep in touch and that you'll all still be here when I come back, but I also know that I won't be able to have as much contact with you as I would like. I take comfort in the fact that I have felt similarly before every big transition in my life, and each one has turned into an even more life-giving and meaningful experience full of new and wonderful people, so I have high hopes about my upcoming experience with JVI. But no matter how excited I am or how right this feels, it's still hard for me to say goodbye. My mind will be racing this week about all the things I still have to buy/pack/finish before I leave, but above all of that I'll be thinking of all of you and how much our shared experiences have shaped me over the years. If I don't get a chance to see or call you in the next twelve days know that I'm thinking about you nonetheless, and I'll try to write you a letter the first chance I get.
In the meantime, the countdown to November 12th is on, at which point I'll stop waving goodbye and start waving hello to my new home in Tacna.