I have spent much of the past few weeks traveling around, saying goodbye to family and friends. This past week I said goodbye to both my brother and my sister. It was a lot harder than I wanted to admit, even to myself. So Thursday about 4:30 I said goodbye to my sister, made a few jokes so it would not get too heavy, and I drove to Taco Bell. Because of where I was, I needed to wait until at least 5:30 so that I was not stuck in the middle of Atlanta traffic, so I settled in for a very long hour.
I ended up sitting there, with food I didn’t want crying. You know it is a good day when you are crying alone in Taco Bell. I wanted my brother and my sister. I wanted my friends I was leaving behind. I wanted to be there to laugh and cry with these people that I love. For an hour, I sat and grieved with my cheese quesadilla. Then for the next three hours as I drove back home.
Grieving is an important process. It’s one that I am horrible at. I am a pro at distracting myself until I forget what I was grieving. God has been showing me how much this has hurt me and others in my life. It is disrespectful of a relationship to not acknowledge it’s importance. Goodbyes are an important part of saying “I value what we have shared so far.” I am so grateful that I have relationships that are worth more to me than my pride. I am incredibly blessed to have friends and family that are worth crying over when we say goodbye.
