I have a group of 6 friends, all of whom I've been close to for 13 years, since I moved to town. The 7 of us all live on one street and they are my closest friends, my confidantes, my sisters. The oldest, Steph, has gone to college, but the rest of us are still toiling through high school. All summer it's been on my mind: saying goodbye to them is going to be one of the hardest things to do. We had a goodbye dinner together before Steph left, but tonight was a sort of goodbye party for me before my departure. Naturally, Steph video-chatted in for the dinner and "Bon Voyage" cake that followed.
As I looked around the table at the 6 girls that I have basically grown up with I was hit with a small wave of melancholy. It's amazing to go out into the world, to be independent and to take a step away from my small childhood hamlet but it's an enormous change. And when the time comes for me to really say goodbye, I'm not really sure how I plan to handle it. Will a quick hug and an abrupt "Bye, I'll miss you!" suffice? Of course nothing will make it easy, but at times like these it's hard to find the right words.
Luckily, with modern technology like video-chat and WhatsApp and such the girls and other friends won't be much more than a click away. My interviewer for SYA (my abroad program) went to the same school in 1969 and was in the same situation as me, but had to travel by boat and letters via snail-mail were few and far between.
Well, I take solace in the fact that I'll be meeting the 65 other kids in the same situation on Wednesday.
....Aaaand back to the Over-Stuffed Suitcase. à tout à l'heure !
Yours in Dysfunctional French,
-L
Wass up?
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