Hellos and Goodbyes

When our Jake served a mission for our church he taught me something very valuable. As one who professed to hate 'goodbyes' he found himself in a sea of them. Every nine weeks, the transfer length for a missionary in his mission, there was the potential to say goodbye, sometimes forever, to someone you had developed a relationship with. One day as we discussed yet another goodbye he said to me, "I've realized that life is just a series of hellos and goodbyes. You just have to figure out how you are going to navigate those."

Last month I thought about that as we said goodbye to my mom. We left Arizona for Utah knowing we would miss the birth of our 13th grandbaby as our Hannah was getting ready to deliver him. We said goodbye to my mom, just as I imagine that she was saying hello to that little boy who was on his way to us. I believe there are hellos and goodbyes going on in another place. Because of this I don't consider that my mom never got to meet little Henry Cal. I feel confident that she held his hand and gave him the same teary goodbye hug that she received when she left us. Meeting Henry Cal was everything we needed to soften the pains of goodbye.

This week the echo of last month returned with a new set of hellos and goodbyes. On Thursday we delivered our Calvin back to the mission field. We love him so much and this was met with as many or more tears than the first time. And of course it would only be fitting that as we took him to the airport we received word that our Hailey was about to deliver our 14th grandchild, little Jane Wesley, into the world. Jane brought with her, through her own mother's sacrifice, the sweet cushion of the day.

Oh how we love these new babies.

And now I sit here this morning where I found myself yet again entangled in another heart stopping goodbye. After a week of gathering with all of our children and grandchildren to send our Calvin off, we said goodbye to our Chip and Lauryn as they head back to Idaho. In the back of their car, tucked under a blanket, was a sobbing four-year old little boy. Our Hyrum was heartbroken to leave. Hyrum's tears spoke so deeply to my soul. I felt all of it. 

A summer of hellos and goodbyes.

A summer of letting go.

A summer of letting in.

A summer that has taught me that sacrifice births all of it. Sacrifice let's go of the old and brings in the new. And for me it's not a people thing, it's a God thing. I believe these are all His gifts and I count all of it for good. Because I know that any good parent that takes away or offers something is doing it for the good of their child. Today I realized even more that sacrifice is at the heart of everything. That sacrifice is the only path to becoming the best version of ourselves and the only real path to true joy. 

I'm learning, albeit slowly, that it takes a lifetime of hellos and goodbyes to learn that. 

A lesson that can grip the oldest and youngest of us all.

But a lesson that escapes none of us.

I count it all for good.