"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"?

These past 8 months have been the craziest months of my life. A lot has happened. A lot has happened that if I could have my way I would hope that no one else would have to experience what I have experienced. I have experienced having to say goodbye (or see you later), as my last blog talked about, to some of the closest people in my life. I have seen my dad go from a healthy 52 year old man to being confined to a wheel chair. All  because some idiotic 22 year old decided that it would be a good idea to get smashed and drive home. I have been heartbroken for one of my closest friends. And experienced even more heartbreak because I couldn't be there for him like he was for me.  I have seen and experienced stress like never before.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." This is the saying that is running through my head over and over again right now. The problem is I'm not sure how to respond. I would like to say this is true, and in most cases it very well could be. But have I grown from all of these things? I know that is not a question that any one else can answer but I'm just not sure. My life seems like it is at a stand still right now.

I miss having my best friends around all the time. But at the same time I have made more friends since I have moved home. I hate seeing my dad in a wheelchair but my dad is at a place spiritually that he has never been before. I have been able to help him through that process. It has been amazing!

Back to the question though. Have I grown any stronger? I think that I can say I have. I have a new perspective on life. A new found appreciation for the things that I have been so blessed with. I couldn't ask for better friends. I couldn't ask for a better family. I have been required to grow up much faster then I expected but that is not a bad thing at all. I have been able to see my big sister get married to an amazing guy and someone that I am very proud to be able to call my brother.

Life has definitely been a roller coaster ride in the last 8 months. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." It is an interesting saying. One that I am not quite ready to give a sure answer to.

Saying Goodbye

   How do you say goodbye to the people who have changed your life? No, not just changed your life but have helped to mold you into the person you are today.  People who have helped you to see the world in a different light. The people who have seen you at your worst and are there to pick you up. Today I had to say goodbye to one of those people. After saying goodbye to this person I realized there have been a lot of goodbyes in my life in the past eight months. In the last eight months I have had to say goodbye to three of these people specifically. Three guys who were not just some of my best friends but brothers to me.  They were and still are my family. Maybe not by blood but in every other way possible.
   But is saying goodbye really goodbye? What does goodbye really mean? Is it just a see you later or see you another day? I like to think of it that way. I like to think that when I have to say goodbye to someone like I did today that no matter what happens in our lives, no matter how far we live from each other, we will always just be saying see you later.
   So back to the original question. How do you say goodbye to those who have have changed your life? Is there a proper way? Maybe there is and maybe there isn't, I don't know, but what I do know is that there are many different ways people say goodbye.
           Some laugh and make jokes.
           Some cry and become depressed.
           Some think about all the good times they had.
           Some refuse to say goodbye altogether.
   Each person has their own way of expressing themselves and many do not agree on how it should be done but the one thing that I think we can agree on is that when goodbye has to be said (no matter how we say it) the people in our lives that we are saying it to will be truly missed. At least, that is, until we see them later.