| The end of a long goodbye |
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| We got home quite late last night after a final meal with our friends and former neighbors who board a flight later today as they trek back to the Washington D.C. area to take new assignments. It's been a long goodbye process that has stretched out over most of the last month, and now we're out of time. We had a drink, watched the fireworks off the beach at the Hawaiian Village, then finally got around to dinner. At the end of the evening, their 8-year old twin daughters were asked what you say when you're leaving. The first answer was a tentative"Mahalo?", then came a moment of realization and a quiet question. "Is this the last time we're going to see you...in Hawaii?" We had to admit that it was, at least with that important qualification. Then one of the girls looked up sweetly with the real answer of what you say at times like this. "Aloha!"
Yes. Aloha. |