Goodbye
January 27, 2021 at 1:43 pm 27 comments
For Friday Fictioneers 100-Word Challenge: 29 January 2021
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| Photo Credit: Marie Gail Stratford |
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Coming home from the airport, John found the place desolate and lonely.
He became emotional seeing the almost empty bottle of water and her daughter’s favorite book lying on the living room where she left them.
“Dad, it’s just a goodbye,” Ella said as he saw her off to college. “I’ll be back on spring break.”
“Honestly, where did the days go?” John sighed. “It seemed like only yesterday that I was helping her sell Girl Scout cookies.”
But the ever thoughtful Ella had a point. She was right. He could look forward to more goodbyes before the final one.
Entry filed under: Blogroll, Daily Post, friday fictioneers. Tags: 100-word challenge, fiction.
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Musings of a Random Mind 
1.
neilmacdon | January 27, 2021 at 2:12 pm
Many goodbyes before the final one, and many hellos as well
2.
plaridel | January 28, 2021 at 10:26 am
neil:
i wrote about hellos and goodbyes in poem many years ago.
3.
Iain Kelly | January 27, 2021 at 3:04 pm
That’s life. I dread the day already when they are ready to leave the family home.
4.
plaridel | January 28, 2021 at 10:26 am
iain:
it was said that my mom and grandma cried for weeks when i immigrated to america thinking they wouldn’t see me again. but they did when i came back home for a visit. 🙂
5.
rochellewisoff | January 28, 2021 at 6:34 am
Dear Plaridel,
Life is full of goodbyes, isn’t it? Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
6.
plaridel | January 28, 2021 at 10:26 am
rochelle:
and as neil said in his comment, many hellos to go along with them, too. 🙂
7.
Keith's Ramblings | January 28, 2021 at 6:59 am
They go away, but they’ve never really gone. Nice one plaridel.
8.
plaridel | January 28, 2021 at 10:26 am
keith:
that’s one way of looking at it. 🙂
9.
Dora | January 28, 2021 at 9:49 am
Oh that last line was bittersweet! It does feel like that though as kids grow up.
10.
plaridel | January 28, 2021 at 10:25 am
dora:
gibran’s words ring true:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
11.
Dora | January 28, 2021 at 10:33 am
Profound wisdom to ease the heart and the mind. Perhaps we should see goodbyes as beginnings instead.
12.
plaridel | January 29, 2021 at 4:41 pm
dora:
it could well be like one door closing and another one opening.
13.
draliman | January 28, 2021 at 9:54 pm
I expect he’ll be less than pleased when she comes back home with a huge bag full of laundry 🙂
14.
plaridel | January 29, 2021 at 4:41 pm
draliman:
i bet she knows how to do that by now. 🙂
15.
Sandra | January 29, 2021 at 1:57 am
I enjoyed your story, and also the extract from Khalil Gibran. Wise words.
16.
plaridel | January 29, 2021 at 4:41 pm
sandra:
it’s very generous of you. thank you.
17.
Russell Gayer | January 29, 2021 at 6:54 am
Ah, the empty nest syndrome. It can be painful at first, but it’s nice to see them becoming independent and stretching their wings.
18.
plaridel | January 29, 2021 at 4:41 pm
russell:
it’s a rite of passage that we have to go through in life.
19.
granonine | January 29, 2021 at 11:17 am
Circle of life. My kids are now watching their kids leave the nest. You captured the emotion very well.
20.
plaridel | January 29, 2021 at 4:41 pm
linda:
thank you for the kind comment. much appreciated.
21.
Tannille | January 30, 2021 at 8:39 pm
Hard when the kids grow up and flap their wings, a sign dad did a great job.
22.
plaridel | February 3, 2021 at 10:50 am
tannille:
if there’s any consolation, that would be it. 🙂
23.
Fatima Fakier | February 1, 2021 at 12:06 am
When you have raised your kids to be functional adults who don’t need you any longer – you’ve done your job right. Bittersweet!
24.
plaridel | February 3, 2021 at 10:49 am
fatima:
i totally agree.
25.
msjadeli | February 2, 2021 at 7:16 pm
Oh this brings back memories of when I dropped my younger son off at college. Very tough. She’s right though, it gets easier after that first time. Good story.
26.
plaridel | February 3, 2021 at 10:49 am
msjadeli:
like the song says, the first cut is the deepest. 🙂
27.
msjadeli | February 3, 2021 at 10:54 am
🙂