Well, here we are at last. Less than ONE week until I depart for eleven-months.
Saying “goodbye” to friends and family has been more challenging than I might have assumed, considering my past experiences with moving and traveling. I will miss you all dearly, but hold firm to the fact that I will see you all in a wink. This year will pass as a fleeting shadow yet again and before we know it we will be having “coffee” (or tea) once again.
(Sorry for not fitting everyone into these photos)
I titled this blog “goodbye” because, as many of you already know, I have an affinity for history and, in this case, etymology. Goodbye, I’ve read, is a fourteenth century contraction that, when expanded, means “God be with ye.” However, much of the populace, for one reason or another, was not able to – or didn’t want to – keep saying this long phrase, so they condensed it in the eighteenth century to say “goodbye.” Notwithstanding this, I think it is a fitting farewell to say to everyone who reads this.
As I step into the next, may the words of one of my favorite authors – outside scripture ofcourse – be of encouragement. I speak not only to you, but to myself and my team also. “It’s a dangerous world out there, Frodo. If you don’t keep your feet, there’s not telling where you might be swept off to.”
God b’ w’ y’
