Good-byes

Perhaps in this present advanced technological days, actually good-byes need not really be good-byes since people are within reach via sms, email, phone etc etc. Was reading yl's blog saying goodbye to her arp at jurong island and gerlynn yap writing abt missing boarding and room-mates.

Struck a chord because had also said goodbye earlier on.

What exactly is one sad about? After all, we all do get to see the people we say goodbye to. I guess it is the end of a phase? The missing of times that will not be the same, given circumstances had changed?

The inevitability of it being unrecovered?

Whatever. It is poignant and sad. Never sure which is harder. The one that left, or the one that is left. Again it depends on what is ahead for each. The one that is left with the harder situation is always the one that is sadder.

When i left scgs, more people cried than me. But i believe i missed them more acutely in the days ahead than they did me. And that for a long, long time. To this day, those were my best teaching times.

Activities always distract, and life would go on for those that are left. For me then, when i left, I had no plans. Only many issues to resolve. Again being me, I never stepped back into the school again for more than a year. Didnt want to go through the pangs of whether i should return. I didnt until I resolved what I had to. I was really tough then. No longer so now. No need to be so hard on myself and really cant take too much pain anymore.

Goodbyes are more heart-rending in time past, when distance really separate people, and communication is usually only by post. Some goodbyes last for years, decades....Long distance calls were hardly available or affordable.

And there are some good-byes that are too permanent.

Whatever Good-byes signify an end. And for some, a beginning... hence we bid Fare - Well.

By the way, for those who didnt know, Good-bye is actually the abbreviation of God be with you. Those who truly know the unpredictability of life (and the powerlessness of man despite all their thought and boast of their own strength), can only commend those whom they care for to God. Wishing that God would protect the other party, and watch over him/her.

As for missing the phase, the people, the times... well, that is life. Though sad, I am thankful that it is not that kind of permanent good-byes; or those fraught with pain and bitterness; But it is for the betterment of the person who would indeed fare well. That in itself is a comfort.

Good-bye Friend.