Another series of good byes

Her black dress swishes back and forth as she walks away down the street. The neon lights and blinking signs buzzing around her gradually shrinking form. I stand and watch and think, “This is the last time I will see her…maybe forever.” The street is so familiar…filled with memories of the past year…and now there’s one more new memory…the vision of a friend walking away after we said good bye.

I always look back when say good bye to someone…it’s just my nature. A lot of my last memories of friends are of them walking away. Part of me hopes the other person will look back and smile one more time…making eye contact and waving…I also like to watch them for as long as I can…making as much of a final memory as I possible.

Now that July has come and gone, another load of friends and acquaintances have moved on from Japan. It’s the big yearly cycle…July is a time for farewells and the turning of another page in the book of life. Right now I’m a bit numb to it…this being the 4^th time I’ve said a big sayonara to close friends. It’s hard and makes you scroll through your cell phone address book taking stock of numbers you’ll never call again. Some entries get deleted…a lot of them remain…as a last standing monument to the good times you shared.

One of my friends who left, Selena, told me, “Don’t be sad it’s ending, be happy it happened.” Her words are wise and true…but it still doesn’t help Starbuck seem any less empty on a Friday afternoon when you’re supposed to be sharing coffee and making fun of ridiculous Japanese outfits.

The people around you make your world…and my world has just been changed dramatically. It’s not over…it’s not finished…it’s taking on a different form. I’m not sure what course my life will take in the coming months…but I will carry my memories with me as comforts and reminders of the good times I’ve had, and are sure to have again.