The Perpetual Goodbye

That comes with every hello

I was resting in a lounge at the Bangkok airport when a man arrived with a young boy. The little boy was crying his heart out and breaking mine in the process. I couldn’t tell exactly what was going on, but the man got someone on a video call for him, and I heard him say, “he didn’t remember saying goodbye at the airport.” Which caused the boy and me to burst into fresh tears. I loved how tender and gentle the man was, helping heal that sweet boy’s clearly broken heart. He eventually calmed down and settled into playing games on his tablet.

That goodbye pain is so familiar, as my life puts me in perpetual departure mode. The hurt of leaving my friends in New Zealand was still fresh and raw.

I was meant to be staying with a gorgeous copper colored lab in a darling village on the River Tay in Scotland. My hostess had to cancel her trip at the last minute for health reasons. So I wanted to cry for her disappointment and fear, for myself for missing that experience, and now having a month to fill in a country where travel and lodging are costly.

There are kind and generous people all over the country who are happy to host me for a few days. And now I can have a proper wander in the Orkney Islands of northern Scotland, Inverness, some beaches, and even a real Scottish Fair.

I’ll be saying goodbye 10 times in the next 26 days, deliberately breaking my own heart at every stop.

With love from wherever I am,
Lauren