With school ending, I figured it wasn't such a big deal. I have started and ended so many programs (7 summers at camp, NFTY-EIE, two dozen NFTY/SMOOCHY kallahs, UMC, High School, and more) I figured I was pro at saying goodbye. But as my friends start trickling out of the Neve dorms and back to America, I realized how each single individual shaped my year... even the ones I never talked to much. To some I say goodbye forever, and some only for now, I laugh at the unexpected places time takes you.
In Jerusalem, this year, I have run into people I never thought I would see again! Just this week, I ran into a friend from UMC (urban mitzvah corp) from the summer of 2009. She lived in Florida, so I figured when I said goodbye it was forever. There was another friend from Florida, who made alyiah. I thought when we said goodbye at camp in 2007 it was also forever. But I guess not; I ran into her in NYC two years in a row and now in Israel. I thought I may never see one of my roommates from EIE, originally from Indiana, but now we often skype. Another girl from EIE ended up coming to Neve and I have been living with her, once again, for the last 8 months! And there is a girl I have known from 2002 and on the 22nd of every month, we reach out to each other to say hi. With all these people from all these different places, I have learned goodbye isn't always forever. And I have also realized, you can never become pro at it... with every individual it's a new and unique experience having to tell them you'll see them soon.
