Here Comes Goodbye

This is a post I've known for a while that I was going to write, and I've been dreading it.

I remember this time last year when I just couldn't believe that I was about to start my senior year of high school. There were so many times over the past school year where my friends and I would talk about college.

I can vividly remember sitting around the lunch table one afternoon where we all went around and shared where we had decided to go to college and what we were majoring in - basically our future plans. And I remember being sad when we went around and almost everyone was going to different schools in different states (five different states to be exact).

It seemed unreal, but talking about it? That was nothing.

This week I had to actually say goodbye to those friends since they're leaving for college. Of course I know that we'll see each other at breaks and next summer, but a part of me knows that it won't be the same. Over the past few years, I haven't gone more than a few weeks over the summer without seeing these girls, and now it will be a few months.

I heard "Here Comes Goodbye" by Rascal Flatts on the radio the other day, and I couldn't help but think how much it spoke to me this week. (Except the video makes it seem like it's written about someone that died, which is clearly not what I'm experiencing - ha!)

A few of my lunch friends got together for dinner on Tuesday night, although we were missing a few girls. I have been SO lucky to get to know these girls over the last few years. We really got to be closer this past year when we were all in the same lunch. We ate together every day at school, and I'm so going to miss eating with them. Although we really just became good friends this year, they have truly shown me what it means to be a good friend. I still can't quite grasp my mind around the fact that by the end of the month we'll be living in four different states hundreds of miles apart.....

Then today was another goodbye. My friend Danielle (the one I went to Savannah with at the beginning of the summer!) leaves for Clemson tomorrow. Since today was her last day in Cincinnati, we spent the afternoon downtown.

Her birthday is coming up too, so I made her some birthday/going away Clemson cake pops. She's also my MVC - most valuable customer - ha! She was the first one to ever order cake pops from me.

We had lunch at Skyline and then went on top of the Carew Tower since Danielle had never been to the top.

Such a sweet friend! Most of my favorite summer memories were made with her. I'm already looking forward to seeing her over Thanksgiving break, and I'm hopefully going to visit her in South Carolina in January (!!!!).

We also just walked around downtown some. We went down to The Banks (one of my favorite areas of town!), sat on the swings, talked, and just watched the river go by. It was the perfect afternoon.

And no trip downtown would be complete without something sweet! We swung by Abby Girl Sweets, and ate our cupcakes on Fountain Square.

So yes, the last few days have been a little tough. It was hard hugging my friends and knowing that I won't see them for a few months instead of just a few days or weeks. I feel like at this point I would give anything to have just one more year at Seton, but then again, I guess I don't know what is to come.

I've been praying that God would give me strength for this week, and I really feel like he has. Normally I turn into a basket case at things like this (like when I cried for an hour and a half after I babysat for the last time and how I cried throughout pretty much my entire high school graduation). However, I've really just been reminding myself that it's not goodbye forever. Really, a few months isn't that long.

I'll miss my friends, absolutely. But I know that they'll make such great friends and college memories, and that makes me feel a little bit better. Because, in the end, all I really want is what's best for them, even if that's hundreds of miles away from me.

I saw this quote the other day, and I think it really illustrates what I'm feeling as friends move away.

via

I'll certainly miss them. I'll miss running into girls I went to high school with at the store. This summer I feel like every time I went somewhere I ran into someone I went to high school with (it happened twice just tonight alone). It's weird that in a few more weeks, I won't be running into anyone at the store. Almost everyone is dorming, whether they are staying close or going far away.

So basically, to sum it all up, I have been struggling with lots of sad feelings this week. But deep down I know that good things lie ahead for all of us. I also know that everyone ended up exactly where they need to be, and that our futures hold so many wonderful things.

I am also extremely comforted by the fact that I'm staying behind and that eventually these friends will return home too, even if just for a little while.

Life will work out, even if it's not the way I would have planned it :)