Saying Goodbye - So Many Changes in the Blink of an Eye

View from AJ's kitchen window 

I'm saying goodbye to a home I have always known. In the blink of an eye so many in our family are gone and so much has changed.

We were so lucky. We were always close, together as often as we could. Healthy, happy.

We’d sit for hours here, in this house, so many of us we’d spill onto the floor.

There was a buzz, an energy, a hum. I’m not sure how to say goodbye.

The door was always open.

There were endless, all encompassing hugs.

We’d sit for hours, laughing, talking, not wanting the night to end.

There was an openness to all of us — politics, religion, sex were never off the table.

We’d run to the backyard to see the hot air balloons overhead.

We’d stand in the driveway waiting for the next car of family to arrive.

We’d listen to stories of Judy and Stan’s latest trip to see the world.

We’d come home from a day at the beach, tired, full of sun, still happy, still together.

We’d eat Mexican food until we were bursting but never too full for Grandma’s homemade pies.

We’d pour over old photos and hear stories of family long since passed.

The cousins would settle down in sleeping bags, talking, laughing.

We'd stand out front taking endless pictures, knowing we needed to leave for the airport, not wanting to say goodbye. 

Tears, hugs, last clasps of hands, smiles. Goodbyes.