Goodbye
When we adopt a dog or any pet, we know it is going to end with us having to say goodbye, but we still do it. And we do it for a very good reason: They bring so much joy and optimism and happiness. They attack every moment of every day with that attitude.
History never really says goodbye. History says, 'See you later.'
A man never knows how to say goodbye; a woman never knows when to say it.
It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure.
When I was 16, I had a job on the cleaning crew at a local hospital. I wore a pink uniform and cleaned bathrooms and buffed the hallway linoleum. Oddly, I don't recall hating the job. I recall getting choked up at the end of the summer when I went to turn in my uniform and say goodbye to the ladies.
I looked her in the eye, and I told her, 'Ma, I owe everything to you, and I couldn't be who I am without you. You're my No. 1 girl, and I'll always love you'. And I got to say my piece, I got to say goodbye to her — which was tough.
I remember saying goodbye to my father the night he left to join the Navy. He didn't have to. He was older than other servicemen and had a family to support but he wanted to be a part of the fight against fascism, not just make movies about it. I admired this about him.
I've read a lot of war writing, even World War I writing, the British war poetry of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves's memoir 'Goodbye to All That', and a civilian memoir, 'Testament of Youth', by Vera Brittain.
I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!