sad and not so sad

Did you know that "good-bye" is actually an etymological descendant of "God be with ye"? Somewhere along the road of our fair language, the English took a shortcut in their farewells and shaved a four-word phrase into one two-word contraction.

And who can blame them? No one likes good-byes--the faster we can say them, the better.

This afternoon, I said "God be with you" to a dear friend who hopped into her Prius for a cross-country drive to Texas, where everything is bigger.

I then transversed the church parking-lot to say "God be with you" to Hubby, #1 Son, #1 Daughter, Friend #12, and ten other dear people. They pointed the church van's front fender toward Syracuse where they will hop onto a plane to the Dominican Republic-- where everything is more far away from me. They will be away for ten days.

Now I am about to say "God be with ye" to Friend #7 because I am going kayaking.
But I will see her later tonight.

And that's not so sad, now, is it?