Leaving my Friends Behind

So many of these goodbyes are brutal. It's hard to say bye to the people who have been in your life for so long. Not that I won't still be close with them but 9,000 miles does a lot to people. When I put it that way now, it doesn't feel like as much as when it originally did when Mike went out there.

Now it seems conquerable. And in a way I suppose it is.

My best goodbyes so far?
--The ones that don't say goodbye. I've been going out to eat so often with my friends and we have a great conversation and catch up and all of a sudden we go to say goodbye and I get asked "Hey! This was a lot of fun. Can we do it again before you leave?" Funny how that works.
--The ones that pick on me. Theyyyy know who they are. They tell me how much FUN they are going to have this summer. How much they will hang out and everything I am going to miss. They think they are sooooo funny trying to get me all worked up.
--The pictures and love notes. Leaving work has been fun! It's really nice seeing my friendships blossom at Sylvan. There are some wonderful people working there and its a joy to spend time with them. Saying goodbye meant a notebook full of pictures and and love letters about missing each other. I haven't felt so close to my coworkers in quite some time. It's our own family.

Leaving good old Elgin in a week. Let's see what other goodbyes choke me up in the next 7 days.