So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good-bye

How do you say goodbye to good friends?

I know telephones and email do wonders to keep people connected, but it's just not the same as dropping by for a beer or some dessert, or laughing over chips and salsa in someone's (okay, my) messy kitchen on a Sunday night.

But today is the day, and our Canadian friends have sold the house, packed up the goods, and are heading back to the Great White North. The parting is all the more bittersweet because they came here with great hopes and dreams and basically had the stuffing kicked out of them by people who ought to know better.

You know, church people.

So the lesson for me, as I sat there crying in the pew during the last sermon, is to keep my heart open, especially for people I'm not too happy with right now. That's what God would want. And that's what our good friends would want, too, even if my inner Angry American would like to go all shock-and-awe on some folks. I'm totally channeling the Mandy Moore character in Saved, where she's shrieking, "I am filled with Christ's love!" as she chunks a Bible at someone's head. I want to, but I won't. The Canadians wouldn't approve. Nor would God, but that's some wrestling I need to do on my own.

I'm glad I'm a Southerner. "Y'all come back" and "See ya later" are giving me a bit of comfort right now. That, and the prospect of dropping in for chips and salsa in a pristine Canadian kitchen sometime down the road.