"It was a long while ago that the words God be with you disappeared into the word goodbye, but every now and again some trace of them still glimmers through."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 280)
Somewhere I remember being told never to say good bye, but instead until we meet again. Good bye somehow seems to indicate, I'll never see you again, which isn't necessarily true, but might in fact be the case.
How we say good bye, the tone of voice, the feelings behind it can often have a lasting effect.
If you slammed the phone down after saying good bye because you were frustrated with the person at the other end, that feeling takes a while to go away. And if it was someone you cared about, instead of some nameless person who didn't help solve your issue, and you don't see them again, not so good either.
When I say good bye to a family member on the phone I always try to say I love you. I'd rather not risk that the last words someone I loved heard from me were anything else.
And while I've never been to Hawaii, but I've heard that the word aloha is used to say hello and goodbye.
And I think there is something to all of this. How we meet people and how we take leave of people says volumes about us. I try to keep mine as positive as possible.
Blessings,
Ed
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