Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Goodbye is not a good enough word.


This morning I swam in Walden Pond while it rained. That was easy. That was pleasant. Evening time was Book Club for a book I really loved. Equally easy. Equally pleasant.

Then something harder.

I said goodbye to Max. He leaves for Brazil tomorrow, and won't be back before I leave. Elizabeth will join him, but is still in Cambridge for a few more days. After parting I rode my bike home with my hood up, and in addition to feeling like Elliott from ET, I felt grateful and slightly sad. Not crying sad, just sad. Maybe because Max and I have been friends since I was 20, and he and Betty were the only people I knew when I moved to Boston. Maybe because my first night here I slept on their couch. Maybe simply because saying goodbye made the fact that I'm moving seem more real. Either way, Boston was better because of them. Dessert First Adventure Club, Outstitute, and Pizza Month were better because of them, indeed existed because of them.

Somehow hugging them, and saying "Thank you for being my friends," didn't even begin to cover it. Not at all. But what else could I say that would be truer? Nothing.

6 comments:

jendar said...

i am so sorry...i hate saying bye because it makes me so sad as well. so when do you leave boston? i am contemplating leaving the city as well, if only i knew where...that is the question...

max said...

I/we love you.

meg said...

you will see them again. and probably soon. ; ) I love you so, and you are blessed because you are sad - look! You are sad because you LOVED!

Kaity said...

hey i hugged some people and said that exact same sentence tonight.

Unknown said...

Jendar. July 27th.

Max/Betty. I love YOU.

Meg. Amen.

Kaity. It is a hard sentence.

Rupeshow said...

i love this photo. such a great day. I miss max and betty so much.