Hellos

I hate goodbyes. So much emotion, sometimes successfully held back bravely but sometimes not. Tears still spill out. My childhood family used to sing a song "Sunday School is over and we are going home...goodbye, goodbye until we meet again" every time we pulled out of the driveway after a long visit with relatives, madly waving to them, singing, holding back the cry. My daughters banned it in our home, once they realized the poignant sorrow that it brought to all of us, the slow sadness of goodbye, goodbye.
We now say goodbye by reminding each other of the next visit, the next holiday, the next opportunity to get on a plane, compressing the time as if it was tomorrow. We promise to Skype. We talk about hellos. Hello is filled with hope and joy, excitement, plans and happy conversation. Hello is hugs and kisses,  walks to the park and shopping expeditions. Hello is lunches and dinners together, late night movies, long car rides to visit family, swimming pools. I will put away the toys today, and find little socks in odd places, eat the rest of the ice pops and try not to look at the little empty bed. I will shut my ears to goodbye, even though tears will come, and think only of the next hello.