Oh no...Its time to go!!

I cannot believe we have finally come to our last day  in Portland and it’s time to say to goodbye! It is not until we packed our bags and cleared our apartment that it actually hit us.......it is finally here!!! Time to say goodbye to our life in the US and hello again to our Indian set up. Goodbye to beautiful apartment nestled under the trees that change color every fall and hello our house located in an area stripped of most of its  greenery; Goodbye to the roads where everyone follows lane discipline and hello the roads where no one follows any discipline; Goodbye to our beloved Hillsboro library and hopefully hello to the yet-to- be- explored libraries in Bangalore; Goodbye to all our friends here in the US and hello again to our old friends and family in Bangalore. Goodbye to eight months of cold wet rain a year and hello again to almost 365 days of sunshine. Goodbye to being a stay at home mom and hello to resuming work again….something to look forward to…right? Saying goodbye doesn’t always have to be a terrible thing to do! 

Anyway, as we leave Portland tomorrow morning, as a last book in the US, I read “Oh no! Its time to go! A book of Goodbyes” by Rebecca Doughty. A little boy recants different instances of having to say goodbye – saying goodbye to a friend at the park, saying goodbye to granny at the end of her visit,  saying goodbye in sign language, his cool cousin tipping his hat to mean so long, his baby brother yelling bye-bye  as he’s off to school; But the worst goodbye he recalls is when the movers came and he watched as his best friend move out of their neighborhood. Much as he wanted to skip the formality of saying goodbye, he decided be strong about it. As he bade farewell to his friend, he soon realized that for each good bye there is a new hello! So to all my friends and well wishers…..so long ……for now .....until we meet again!