Gathering with treasured friends...getting to spend extended quality time with them…it’s amazing, yet such a double-edge sword. Why? For when it comes time to part ways, I become a mess.
For the past six glorious days, I’ve had the privilege to gather with a good number of valued friends—those I consider family. As always, our time together took far too long to get here and ending too swiftly.
Most of us dreaded this morning, knowing that it would be the last time we would set eyes on one another for quite some time. A group of us decided to skip lunch to stroll the Boardwalk—one last-ditch effort to spend as much time together as humanly possible before all but I had to head home.
Our stroll along the Boardwalk did us good. We took memento photos. Some goofy. Some with tears in our eyes. Others were serious. By the time the cruel clock ticked out the final minutes before the first couple had to leave, we were feeling pretty good. But then reality sunk in. We avoided one another’s eyes, hoping that might make us stronger. It didn’t. Tears flowed freely as we hugged good-bye.
This process repeated itself for the next nine hours—each hour that passed another amongst us having to head to the airport via taxi or shuttle while others headed to a nearby bus terminal. Though I’m not one that’s prone to headaches, halfway through this process, my head was throbbing with a major one, my heart aching just as much.
Tonight as I type this, I do so with mixed emotions. I’m appreciative that my friends and I were able to gather and spend such quality time together for several days. I adore the lessons we learned from one another as we listened in depth to stories shared. I treasure the lasting memories we created while together. How our already strong bonds grew in strength. On the flip side, my heart aches for them being gone and knowing that I will head home tomorrow—each of us to resume our regular schedules. Ultimately, however, I am smiling, for I know that we’ll be granted the privilege to once again gather, none of us taking for granted what an amazing gift that is! 
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