When Goodbye is For Ever

From the time you were young,
you have learned to say goodbye.

These are little goodbyes

for a short time out of sight.

There are longer goodbyes.
Sometimes you know how long they will last.

Sometimes you don't.

Some goodbyes are for ever.

These goobyes may be happy.

For in every ending there is also a beginning,

and some goodbyes feel like a happy new beginnings and bright days.

Some goodbyes that are for ever may be sad.

They can make you feel lost and lonely.

You may want to cry.

You may want someone to hug you and to comfort you until the pain and sadness go away.

So when you have to say goodbye for ever to someone you love,

that is the saddest goodbye of all.

But people do die.

Just as the flowers die,

just as the leafs die,

just as little creatures die.

In the end,

everyone must die.

Sometimes, death comes unexpectedly,

like a frost that kills the spring flowers.

It seems so unkind,

so unfair...

Sometimes, death is expected.

Just as winter follows autumn.

When someone you love has died,

you may feel sadder and lonelier than ever before.

It may seem you will cry for ever.

It may seem that the pain and sadness will never go away.

It may seem that no one can love you enough to help you.

Time will pass.

Into the empty space of goodbye will come the memories of happy times.

Just as morning follows night and spring follows winter,

there will be new beginnings;

new people to meet,

new things to do.

The loved one who has died has passed on to a new beginning.

They have gone to a new place that is beyond what we can see,

beyond what we can fully understand.

That place we call heaven,

where God makes all things new;

where those we love are safe in the love of God,

as we are safe in the love of God.

They will only be a little time out of sight,

for God's love will gather us together for all eternity♥