Saying Goodbye to Berlin

I hate goodbyes.  It seems that no matter where we live, we’re constantly saying goodbye to people that mean so much to us.  Military families know exactly what I’m talking about!

Years ago at Girl Scout camp, we used to sing a little song on our last night together.  We’d stand up from our log benches, cross our arms in front of us, and then hold hands with each of our neighbors.  Creating this setting took about five minutes!  But once every girl figured out which hand goes on top of the other, we’d have an enormous circle of girls and women standing around a campfire.  Some would start crying.  The night would be dark.  We’d be filled with so many amazing camp memories of our week.  And together we’d sing this song:

Mmm-hmmm I want to linger, mmm-hmmm a little longer.  Mmmm-hmmm a little longer here with you.

My very favorite part of the song was the end.  We’d all be looking at our new friends and sing:

This is goodnight and not goodbye.

Whenever Martin and I have to move, I remind myself that there is always tomorrow.  Friendships don’t have to die.  If they are friendships that are meant to last, they do.  A lifetime of Girl Scouting has proved that to me time and time again because the best friendships are the types where you can hop right back together as if months and months had never separated you.

I have cried so often when Martin and I have returned to a place, only to find friendships that did not survive while I was 100s or 1000s of miles away.  What can I do?  Moving so often can be such a lonely thing.

My hopes are always strong that friendships will last.  I hope that when we’re back in the US, I can rekindle old friendships because we’ll be hours from people I love instead of hours and hours and hours.

So here’s me pouring my heart out.

I’ve never made friends like I did this year in Berlin.  Naturally, my friends have always spoken English.  But all the people above?  No English.  Just stumbling through German together.  It’s been an amazing experience.  And oddly, in my last goodbye with some of these people was at a Starbucks.

Seriously – you walk into a Starbucks in Berlin and you would think you’re in any Starbucks in the US.  They’re exactly the same!  Even the menu is primarily in English.  (Don’t get me started on how frustrating it is to not know if I should order “coffee” or “Kaffee”, which aren’t pronounced the same way at all.)

I almost wonder if these girls were trying to tell me something by picking the sort of place that I’ll see everywhere in the US.  Is this goodnight and not goodbye?

Can you relate?  Where do your closest friends live and how do you bridge the distances with those far away?