When I was a little girl I use to watch this show called “Journeys with Joey”. It was a puppet show about a dog named Joey with a wild imagination so imaginative that it took him on different adventures even when he’d be just in his backyard the whole time. There was a human in the show too, his name was Sam he acted as the narrator/mentor for Joey. In one particular episode Joey was upset because just as he was planning on taking on a one eyed jelly bean monster with a tooth pick as a sword to save the sugar cube princess alongside his best friend Pepper, whom was also a dog. He learned that Pepper was having second thoughts about continuing to have such wild experiences in the backyard of Joey’s home. You see, Pepper was a few years older than Joey and he was starting to feel like maybe it was time for his life to include more maturity. The episode ended with Sam comforting Joey, explaining to him that goodbyes are just a normal part of life that we must all go through and sung him “the song of goodbyes”.

“Goodbye now, I’m sorry, I wish i could stay, but I’m getting older, it’s time for a change. The times that we shared will stay deep in my brain. May life please you well and for me I’ll wish the same.”

At the time I never looked too deeply into the episode I mean I was only 6, and as much as it seems to be a bittersweet moment to say your farewells I don’t remember putting much thought into letting go of my childhood friends, shows or even toys as I started to get older. It wasn’t until I grew into a young woman and started to realize how I may not have the same time for my friends and family as I use to. It wasn’t until I started falling in love, that this one episode in a kids show I watched nearly 20 years ago, really started to stick with me. I remember having a good feeling about you from the moment we first met in person. I like to think of our love as a garden of lilies that I lured you into. I wanted you to see every flower bloom kissed by the sun illuminating it’s beauty. I thought I could create a space surrounding us in which we only got to admire the lovely world in which we inhabit. But that didn’t get to be the case, we grew tired, irritated and unhappy. I know the time is coming soon when you will wanna leave, and I’ll have to accept what is and we will both agree to go our separate ways. I’ll tell you how I’m fine with it and how I want you to be happy. I’ll tell you how I’m no longer even thinking of love, marriage, and kids. But in my mind we’re dancing to 1980’s R&B in the living room, you guiding me through every beat in the song because I have no rhythm. We’re making a pasta from a recipe we saw online that day and thought it’d be good to try as we watch our favorite Tv series. I’m laying in your lap as you look at me with such love in your eyes as I press my freshly washed and soaked hair into your neck because you never seemed to mind me air drying. You lay me down and I whisper “take me as your own” our hands tangled into each other as we become united souls. We share a child, they share your smile and my goofiness they are the greatest accomplishment I have to show and I am proud of that. You ask for my hand in marriage you promise me that we will grow old together. But I understand what cannot be, so just please let me keep the memories, let me keep you alive in my mind, and in return I’ll help you sing “the song of goodbyes”.

“Goodbye now, it’s over I wish I could stay, but times sure are hard now, it’s time for a change. The times that we shared will stay deep in my brain. May life please you well and for me I’ll wish the same.”