That was it

I said goodbye to my best friend today. I said goodbye before she leaves next week for Argentina where she will be until July. Not knowing again when I will see her, I wished her farewell.
Saying goodbye is something we do often, goodbye is said at all holidays we go home for, at the end of telephone calls, which are less and less often these days, at the end of summer vacations, last year when she studied abroad, whenever our time together must end.
I hate goodbyes, I dread them. I'm not one for change, and I hate the idea of spending the rest of the day without them. It makes that transition awkward and I feel lonely and nostalgic for the rest of the day.
This goodbye was easy. I didn't cry as I normally do. We merely hugged and I wished her a fabulous semester and a safe drive home. And that was it. That was it. I shut the car door and went on with my day. I thought of her a little as I took study breaks. But that was it. That was it. That was all I could give her as she travels to another country, and as she drove 5 hours for the weekend to visit me, and as our future plans seem so uncertain.

But as the weekend wore on I also realized how much we had both changed. She wasn't the same girl I usually say goodbye to. We have changed, we have had different experiences, we are different people. And it's hard to say goodbye to a friend who is like a stranger.

And for that, I say Grace.