Hello is not Goodbye

Goodbyes have become familiar over the years. Those we love have come and gone, not from our lives but from our town. And the more familiar these goodbyes have become, the more tender they get.

In 2023, we said a hard goodbye. One that pulled at my heart strings in a surprising way. This goodbye felt like a culmination of many difficult goodbyes that have been said over the past few years.

A close friend hugged me close as unexpected tears poured down my face and said sometimes new heartache stirs up old heartache. Yes, my soul agreed. This goodbye is hard because it felt like the last of many hard goodbyes. Of being left behind.

So as we say goodbye to 2023, I want it to know that we do not leave it behind, forgotten and abandoned. We carry it with us as we say a new hello.

Greeting 2024, a hesitancy makes me shy. I cautiously approach this new year, unsure of what is ahead.

We have not gotten to know each other yet. Like strangers we anticipate all that this hello will lead to.

Adventures, heartache, growth, and hopefully lots of sweet moments.

This hello feels exciting and a bit heavy. My hope gives me anticipation for all the adventures ahead. But my finite view of the future makes me want to hold back reserving my excitement until I am sure that I won’t get disappointed.

And unfortunately, that might be a bit how I approach any new friendship. A hopeful and hesitant hello. A vulnerable initiation, unsure of how I will be received or where this will go.

But as they say…

Make new friends

And keep the old

One is silver

And the other gold

So Hello, new friend. I’m not sure if you will be silver or gold.

But I have said enough goodbyes over the years.

I will not say goodbye to 2023, but I will carry it with me. Bringing the lessons I have learned and the memories I have made. I will know that 2023 made me into the person who is greeting 2024. She is someone who has growing to do, but has made great strides in the years before.

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Hello".