Ideas For Making Goodbyes a Little Easier

21 Jun 2007

After seven months in Dominica, Liuda (veselo.info) is traveling back to her home town kurgan in Russia. These beautiful months living together, it’s hard to watch her go even if I know that I will see her again soon. I don’t know; but there is just something about saying goodbye to someone you love, maybe its because we always want to keep our love ones close to us or maybe it’s fear that will might never see them again…I don’t know but to be honest I don’t like this feeling.

Here are some ideas for making goodbyes a little easier to say:

Keep a journal
If you’re having trouble dealing with the emotions involved with saying goodbye to a good friend, keeping a journal of your thoughts and feelings can help. You can write about anything that comes into your head, from stories about the good times you and your friend have had together, to what you feel when you think about leaving.

Have a party
Get permission to throw a “goodbye party” to celebrate your friendships. Have a shindig at your home or a friend’s, or head out to a local theme park or sporting event. Don’t forget to take LOTS of pictures or even video!

Give a gift
We give gifts at birthdays and major holidays,
so why not give a goodbye gift to a special friend? Find something that has some connection to the things you like to do together, or better yet, make something that’s one-of-a-kind. Think about how to show your friend that although you may be far away physically, in your heart you’re right
next door.

Make a friendship book
Alone or together with your BFF, make a scrapbook that celebrates your time as friends. Include anything you want, such as: photos, drawings, magazine cut-outs, stubs of movies you saw together, or lyrics to your fave songs. You might want to create two scrapbooks, so that you can each have one when you’re separated. Or you could suggest that your friend make a scrapbook to give to you, and you make one to give to him
or her.

Use the phone and the Net
Chances are, you already spend a lot of your time chatting with friends on the phone or through IM’s and e-mail. The good news is that these work the same whether you’re across the street or across the country! You might want to set a regular weekly “phone date” or “IM chat” with a friend, or promise to keep an “e-mail diary” to each other.

Send cards and letters
Don’t forget good old snail mail! Writing and receiving cards and letters is a lot of fun, and writing lets you express yourself in a way that no other form of communication can match. So fill up your friend’s mailbox with letters, and he or she will likely write you back, giving you lots of cool stuff to read. Want to make it easy for your friend? Give her or him a set of stationery before you leave, with your address already written on the envelopes.