The Last Time I Saw Someone

This is a writing prompt assignment for Pages:

I've said goodbye to many people over my almost 31 years of life. I've made many friends I'll never see again. Not necessarily because they've died, but because we've moved on through distance by miles or where we were at in our lives. I'm learning the value of deep relationships. And finding time for the ones you love.

I remember one of the first times I had to say goodbye to a friend due to the fact that my family was moving. Nathan, the boy next door, and I were about the same age. He had the coolest toys. One day he and Demon (oops, I mean Damon, who was not my friend), were out riding Nathan's Power Wheels Jeep. Oh, did I envy and covet that Jeep! I greatly desired to have a chance to drive it. But mean Nathan denied my request! I got angry. It didn't faze him.

"But I'm going to move!"

"So? I don't care."

"But you'll never see me anymore!"

"I don't care."

"You will care and you will miss me!"

They just drove away. I stalked back into my house. Boys!

I remember another goodbye. A sad goodbye, although a little less frustrating!

The day my Grandpa left for Ohio was the last time I'd ever see him. He had been struggling with Alzheimer's and Leukemia for a handful of years before my Grandma excepted the help of my Aunt and Uncle who live eight hours away in Xenia. The few weeks before they left I spent what time I could helping them with preparations, but mostly entertaining Grandpa. He didn't know he was moving and would have put up a big fuss if he found out. Grandpa and I spent much of that time sitting out on his back porch. He told me all about his tree he planted many years ago. His long-term memory was much better than his short-term. At that point, I'm not even sure he saw me as an adult, I think if he recognized me at all, he saw me as my little girl self. It was summertime and I was just a couple of weeks away from having my first baby. When Jason and I found out we were expecting, I knew we'd get some interesting reactions. First of all, we weren't trying to get pregnant. We were in our first year of marriage and I was just twentyone years old and half way through nursing school. Prepared as I was to shock a few people, I wasn't prepared for my Grandpa's reaction. When we told my Grandparents, Grandpa's eyes welled up with tears. He said he had been praying for this. Oh how I needed to hear that! What a special memory that is for me!

But Grandpa never got to see the great grandbaby he so wanted to hold.

We ate at Deny's the morning of the move. He was told they were just going for a scenic car ride. As they pulled away from the restaurant's parking lot, my eyes filled with tears. Somehow I knew I'd never see him again. He died two months after my son's birth, right before Christmas.

I've come to know what a gift it is to be able to have the time to hug and say goodbye to a loved one, to be able to spend time with a loved one before they leave, even while knowing you'll never see them again. The memories of the times spent with them are a real treasure to hold in one's heart.

Because we aren't always given that opportunity to say goodbye & hug one last time. We aren't always given that gift.