
I have a friend who's notorious for his covert exits from events. People notice him coming in but he always slips out undetected, and an hour or so later people look around, wondering when he disappeared. Of course, there are those who linger over good-bye's, hugging everyone and starting new conversations that last several minutes on their way out: "We have to get together soon!...I love that purse! Where did you find that?...So what are you going to do next now that you're done with school?" Their good-bye process lasts longer than Mr. Covert Exit's entire time at a party.
My family's tradition is to wave when someone's driving off in their car until you can't see each other any more. There are certain good-bye's that have stuck with me. The day my parents dropped me off at college. I thought I was doing okay until I burst into tears at our first floor meeting. Or saying good-bye to my friends in Illinois to move 2,000 miles away and completely start over. I had only what could fit in my car going with me, and the rest had been tossed, donated, sold, given to friends, lit on fire. Only kidding on that last one.
My most memorable good-bye took place this summer in the middle of a train station in Poland. I went to a week-long dance camp set in picturesque forest with a river running through it. There were 24 kids ages 7-17 years old, most speaking a little English, and we had a blast learning to do modern, hip hop, and ballroom dancing.
My last day at the camp we took the kids into the city for an educational scavenger hunt of sorts. When it was time to walk to the train, I could feel myself start to get choked up. I did not want to start crying! It didn't help when my new friend Ela commented that it must be hard for me to say good-bye. (Yes, Ela, it is hard). I tried to think about something else. By the time we got to my train, I was having to cough to stop the tears from coming out.
I thought I was going to make it until one of the girls presented me with a bag. In it, I found a beautiful book full of pictures of Poland, with English and Polish captions. Each child had signed it and there was also a lovely quote written in Polish and English in the inside cover ("I wish you courage as sun has which rises again every day above each poverty in the world." Phil Boemans)That pushed me over the edge. As tears were streaming down my face, each child gave me a big hug and kissed my cheek. I got on the train and saw Ela start to wave a beautiful purple scarf through the air. The next thing I knew all of the kids had tissues out and were waving good-bye to me. I will never forget it.